Skip to content
-
July 23 in History
- 811 – Byzantine emperor Nikephoros I plunders the Bulgarian capital of Pliska and captures Khan Krum’s treasury.
- 1319 – A Knights Hospitaller fleet scores a crushing victory over an Aydinid fleet off Chios.
- 1632 – Three hundred colonists bound for New France depart from Dieppe, France.
- 1677 – Scanian War: Denmark–Norway captures the harbor town of Marstrand from Sweden.
- 1793 – Kingdom of Prussia re-conquers Mainz from France.
- 1813 – Sir Thomas Maitland is appointed as the first Governor of Malta, transforming the island from a British protectorate to a de facto colony.
- 1821 – While the Mora Rebellion continues, Greeks capture Monemvasia Castle. Turkish troops and citizens are transferred to Asia Minor’s coasts.
- 1829 – In the United States, William Austin Burt patents the typographer, a precursor to the typewriter.
- 1840 – The Province of Canada is created by the Act of Union.
- 1862 – American Civil War: Henry Halleck takes command of the Union Army.
- 1874 – Aires de Ornelas e Vasconcelos is appointed the Archbishop of the Portuguese colonial enclave of Goa, India.
- 1881 – The Boundary Treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentina is signed in Buenos Aires.
- 1885 – President Ulysses S. Grant dies of throat cancer.
- 1903 – The Ford Motor Company sells its first car.
- 1908 – The Second Constitution accepted by the Ottomans.
- 1914 – Austria-Hungary issues a series of demands in an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia demanding Serbia to allow the Austrians to determine who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Serbia accepts all but one of those demands and Austria declares war on July 28.
- 1919 – Prince Regent Aleksander Karađorđević signs the decree establishing the University of Ljubljana
- 1921 – The Communist Party of China (CPC) is established at the founding National Congress.
- 1926 – Fox Film buys the patents of the Movietone sound system for recording sound onto film.
- 1927 – The first station of the Indian Broadcasting Company goes on the air in Bombay.
- 1936 – In Catalonia, Spain, the Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia is founded through the merger of Socialist and Communist parties.
- 1940 – The United States’ Under Secretary of State Sumner Welles issues a declaration on the U.S. non-recognition policy of the Soviet annexation and incorporation of three Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
- 1942 – World War II: The German offensives Operation Edelweiss and Operation Braunschweig begin.
- 1942 – Bulgarian poet and Communist leader Nikola Vaptsarov is executed by firing squad.
- 1943 – The Rayleigh bath chair murder occurred in Rayleigh, Essex, England.
- 1943 – World War II: The British destroyers HMS Eclipse and HMS Laforey sink the Italian submarine Ascianghi in the Mediterranean after she torpedoes the cruiser HMS Newfoundland.
- 1945 – The post-war legal processes against Philippe Pétain begin.
- 1952 – General Muhammad Naguib leads the Free Officers Movement (formed by Gamal Abdel Nasser, the real power behind the coup) in overthrowing King Farouk of Egypt.
- 1961 – The Sandinista National Liberation Front is founded in Nicaragua.
- 1962 – Telstar relays the first publicly transmitted, live trans-Atlantic television program, featuring Walter Cronkite.
- 1962 – The International Agreement on the Neutrality of Laos is signed.
- 1962 – Jackie Robinson becomes the first African American to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
- 1967 – Detroit Riots: In Detroit, one of the worst riots in United States history begins on 12th Street in the predominantly African American inner city. It ultimately kills 43 people, injures 342 and burns about 1,400 buildings.
- 1968 – Glenville shootout: In Cleveland, Ohio, a violent shootout between a Black Militant organization and the Cleveland Police Department occurs. During the shootout, a riot begins and lasts for five days.
- 1968 – The only successful hijacking of an El Al aircraft takes place when a Boeing 707 carrying ten crew and 38 passengers is taken over by three members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The aircraft was en route from Rome, to Lod, Israel.
- 1970 – Qaboos bin Said al Said becomes Sultan of Oman after overthrowing his father, Said bin Taimur initiating massive reforms, modernization programs and end to a decade long civil war.
- 1972 – The United States launches Landsat 1, the first Earth-resources satellite.
- 1974 – The Greek military junta collapses, and former Prime Minister Konstantinos Karamanlis is invited to lead the new government, beginning Greece’s metapolitefsi era.
- 1980 – Phạm Tuân becomes the first Vietnamese citizen and the first Asian in space when he flies aboard the Soyuz 37 mission as an Intercosmos Research Cosmonaut.
- 1982 – Outside Santa Clarita, California, actor Vic Morrow and two children are killed when a helicopter crashes onto them while shooting a scene from Twilight Zone: The Movie.
- 1983 – Thirteen Sri Lanka Army soldiers are killed after a deadly ambush by the militant Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
- 1983 – Gimli Glider: Air Canada Flight 143 runs out of fuel and makes a deadstick landing at Gimli, Manitoba.
- 1988 – General Ne Win, effective ruler of Burma since 1962, resigns after pro-democracy protests.
- 1992 – A Vatican commission, led by Joseph Ratzinger, establishes that limiting certain rights of homosexual people and non-married couples is not equivalent to discrimination on grounds of race or gender.
- 1992 – Abkhazia declares independence from Georgia.
- 1995 – Comet Hale–Bopp is discovered; it becomes visible to the naked eye on Earth nearly a year later.
- 1997 – Digital Equipment Corporation files antitrust charges against chipmaker Intel.
- 1999 – ANA Flight 61 is hijacked in Tokyo, Japan by Yuji Nishizawa.
- 1999 – Space Shuttle Columbia launches on STS-93, with Eileen Collins becoming the first female space shuttle commander. The shuttle also carried and deployed the Chandra X-ray Observatory.
- 2005 – Three bombs explode in the Naama Bay area of Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, killing 88 people.
- 2014 – TransAsia Airways Flight 222 crashes in Xixi village near Huxi, Penghu, during approach to Phengu Airport. 48 of the 58 people on board are killed and five more people on the ground are injured.
- 2015 – NASA announces discovery of Kepler-452b by Kepler.
- 2016 – Kabul twin bombing occurred in the vicinity of Deh Mazang when protesters, mostly from the Shiite Hazara minority, were marching against route changing of the TUTAP power project. At least 80 people were killed and 260 were injured.
- 2018 – A wildfire in East Attica, Greece caused the death of 102 people. It was the deadliest wildfire in history of Greece and the second-deadliest in the world, in the 21st century, after the 2009 bushfires in Australia that killed 180.
Births on July 23
- 1301 – Otto, Duke of Austria (d. 1339)
- 1339 – Louis I, Duke of Anjou (d. 1384)
- 1370 – Pier Paolo Vergerio the Elder, humanist (d. 1444 or 1445)
- 1401 – Francesco I Sforza, Italian husband of Bianca Maria Visconti (d. 1466)
- 1441 – Danjong of Joseon, King of Joseon (d. 1457)
- 1503 – Anne of Bohemia and Hungary (d. 1547)
- 1614 – Bonaventura Peeters the Elder, Flemish painter (d. 1652)
- 1635 – Adam Dollard des Ormeaux, New France garrison commander (d. 1660)
- 1649 – Pope Clement XI (d. 1721)
- 1705 – Francis Blomefield, English historian and author (d. 1752)
- 1713 – Luís António Verney, Portuguese philosopher and pedagogue (d. 1792)
- 1773 – Thomas Brisbane, Scottish general and politician, 6th Governor of New South Wales (d. 1860)
- 1775 – Étienne-Louis Malus, French physicist and mathematician (d. 1812)
- 1777 – Philipp Otto Runge, German painter and illustrator (d. 1810)
- 1796 – Franz Berwald, Swedish surgeon and composer (d. 1868)
- 1802 – Manuel María Lombardini, Mexican general and president (1853) (d. 1853)
- 1823 – Alexandre-Antonin Taché, Canadian archbishop and missionary (d. 1894)
- 1838 – Édouard Colonne, French violinist and conductor (d. 1910)
- 1851 – Peder Severin Krøyer, Norwegian-Danish painter (d. 1909)
- 1856 – Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Indian lawyer and journalist (d. 1920)
- 1864 – Apolinario Mabini, Filipino lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of the Philippines (d. 1903)
- 1865 – Henry Norris, English businessman and politician (d. 1934)
- 1866 – Francesco Cilea, Italian composer and academic (d. 1950)
- 1878 – James Thomas Milton Anderson, Canadian lawyer and politician, 5th Premier of Saskatchewan (d. 1946)
- 1882 – Kâzım Karabekir, Turkish general and politician, 5th Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (b. 1948)
- 1883 – Alan Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke, French-English field marshal and politician, Lord Lieutenant of the County of London (d. 1963)
- 1884 – Emil Jannings, Swiss-German actor (d. 1950)
- 1885 – Izaak Killam, Canadian financier and philanthropist (d. 1955)
- 1885 – Georges V. Matchabelli, Georgian-American businessman, created Prince Matchabelli perfume (d. 1935)
- 1886 – Salvador de Madariaga, Spanish historian and diplomat (d. 1978)
- 1886 – Walter H. Schottky, Swiss-German physicist and engineer (d. 1976)
- 1888 – Raymond Chandler, American crime novelist and screenwriter (d. 1959)
- 1891 – Louis T. Wright, American surgeon and civil rights activist (d. 1952)
- 1892 – Haile Selassie, Ethiopian emperor (d. 1975)
- 1894 – Arthur Treacher, English-American actor and television personality (d. 1975)
- 1895 – Aileen Pringle, American actress (d. 1989)
- 1898 – Daniel Cosío Villegas, Mexican historian, economist (d. 1976)
- 1898 – Bengt Djurberg, Swedish actor and singer (d. 1941)
- 1898 – Red Dutton, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1987)
- 1898 – Herman Kruusenberg, Estonian wrestler (d. 1970)
- 1898 – Jacob Marschak, Ukrainian-American economist, journalist, and author (d. 1977)
- 1899 – Gustav Heinemann, German lawyer and politician, 3rd President of West Germany (d. 1976)
- 1900 – Julia Davis Adams, American author and journalist (d. 1993)
- 1900 – John Babcock, Canadian-American sergeant (d. 2010)
- 1900 – Inger Margrethe Boberg, Danish folklore researcher and writer (d. 1957)
- 1901 – Hank Worden, American actor and singer (d. 1992)
- 1901 – Isabel Luberza Oppenheimer, Puerto Rican brothel owner and madam in barrio Maragüez, Ponce, Puerto Rico (d. 1974)
- 1905 – Leopold Engleitner, Austrian author and educator (d. 2013)
- 1906 – Vladimir Prelog, Croatian-Swiss chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1998)
- 1906 – Chandra Shekhar Azad, Indian activist (d. 1931)
- 1912 – M. H. Abrams, American author, critic, and academic (d. 2015)
- 1912 – Michael Wilding, English actor (d. 1979)
- 1913 – Michael Foot, English journalist and politician, Secretary of State for Employment (d. 2010)
- 1914 – Nassos Daphnis, Greek-American painter (d.2010)
- 1914 – Virgil Finlay, American illustrator (d. 1971)
- 1914 – Elly Annie Schneider, German-American actress (d. 2004)
- 1916 – Laurel Martyn, Australian ballerina and choreographer (d. 2013)
- 1918 – Abraham Bueno de Mesquita, Dutch comedian and actor (d. 2005)
- 1918 – Ruth Duccini, American actress (d. 2014)
- 1918 – Pee Wee Reese, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 1999)
- 1921 – Calvert DeForest, American actor (d. 2007)
- 1922 – Damiano Damiani, Italian director and screenwriter (d. 2013)
- 1922 – Jenny Pike, Canadian WWII servicewoman and photographer (d. 2004)
- 1923 – Luis Aloma, Cuban-American baseball player (d. 1997)
- 1923 – Morris Halle, Latvian-American linguist and academic (d. 2018)
- 1923 – Amalia Mendoza, Mexican singer and actress (d. 2001)
- 1924 – Gavin Lambert, English-American screenwriter and author (d. 2005)
- 1924 – Gazanfer Bilge, Turkish wrestler (d. 2008)
- 1925 – Tajuddin Ahmad, Bangladeshi politician, 1st Prime Minister of Bangladesh (d. 1975)
- 1925 – Quett Masire, Botswana politician, the former Vice-President of Botswana (d. 2017)
- 1925 – Alain Decaux, French historian and author (d. 2016)
- 1925 – Gloria DeHaven, American actress and singer (d. 2016)
- 1926 – Ludvík Vaculík, Czech journalist and author (d. 2015)
- 1927 – Gérard Brach, French director and screenwriter (d. 2006)
- 1928 – Leon Fleisher, American pianist and conductor
- 1928 – Vera Rubin, American astronomer and academic (d. 2016)
- 1928 – Hubert Selby, Jr., American author and screenwriter (d. 2004)
- 1929 – Danny Barcelona, American drummer (d. 2007)
- 1929 – Lateef Jakande, Nigerian journalist and politician, 5th Governor of Lagos State
- 1931 – Te Atairangikaahu, Māori queen (d. 2006)
- 1931 – Claude Fournier, Canadian director, screenwriter, and cinematographer
- 1931 – Guy Fournier, Canadian author and screenwriter
- 1933 – Raimund Abraham, Austrian architect, designed the Austrian Cultural Forum (d. 2010)
- 1933 – Bert Convy, American actor, singer, and game show host (d. 1991)
- 1933 – Benedict Groeschel, American priest, psychologist, and talk show host (d. 2014)
- 1933 – Richard Rogers, Italian-English architect, designed the Millennium Dome and Lloyd’s building
- 1935 – Jim Hall, American race car driver
- 1936 – Don Drysdale, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 1993)
- 1936 – Anthony Kennedy, American lawyer and jurist
- 1937 – Dave Webster, American football player and engineer
- 1938 – Juliet Anderson, American porn actress and producer (d. 2010)
- 1938 – Ronny Cox, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
- 1938 – Charles Harrelson, American murderer (d. 2007)
- 1938 – Bert Newton, Australian actor and television host
- 1940 – Danielle Collobert, French author, poet, and journalist (d. 1978)
- 1940 – Don Imus, American radio host (d. 2019)
- 1940 – Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, Italian economist and politician, Italian Minister of Finance (d. 2010)
- 1941 – Christopher Andrew, English historian and academic
- 1941 – Richie Evans, American race car driver (d. 1985)
- 1941 – Sergio Mattarella, Italian lawyer, judge, and politician, 12th President of Italy
- 1942 – Sallyanne Atkinson, Australian journalist and politician, Lord Mayor of Brisbane
- 1942 – Madeline Bell, American singer-songwriter
- 1942 – Richard E. Dauch, American businessman, co-founded American Axle (d. 2013)
- 1942 – Dimitris Liantinis, Greek philosopher and author (d. 1998)
- 1943 – Randall Forsberg, American scientist (d. 2007)
- 1943 – Tony Joe White, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2018)
- 1944 – Dino Danelli, American drummer
- 1944 – Maria João Pires, Portuguese pianist
- 1945 – Edward Gregson, English composer and educator
- 1945 – Jon Sammels, English footballer
- 1946 – Andy Mackay, English oboe player and composer
- 1946 – René Ricard, American poet, painter, and critic (d. 2014)
- 1947 – Gardner Dozois, American journalist and author (d. 2018)
- 1947 – David Essex, English singer-songwriter, and actor
- 1947 – Torsten Palm, Swedish race car driver
- 1947 – Robin Simon, English historian, critic, and academic
- 1948 – Ross Cranston, Australian-English lawyer, judge, and politician, Solicitor General for England and Wales
- 1948 – John Cushnahan, Northern Irish educator and politician
- 1948 – John Hall, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and politician
- 1948 – Stanisław Targosz, Polish general (d. 2013)
- 1949 – Clive Rice, South African cricketer and coach (d. 2015)
- 1950 – Alex Kozinski, Romanian-born American lawyer and judge
- 1950 – Ian Thomas, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1950 – Blair Thornton, Canadian guitarist and songwriter
- 1950 – Alan Turner, Australian cricketer
- 1952 – Paul Hibbert, Australian cricketer and coach (d. 2008)
- 1952 – Bill Nyrop, American ice hockey player and coach (d. 1995)
- 1952 – John Rutsey, Canadian drummer (d. 2008)
- 1952 – Janis Siegel, American jazz singer (The Manhattan Transfer)
- 1953 – Graham Gooch, English cricketer and coach
- 1953 – Najib Razak, Malaysian politician, 6th Prime Minister of Malaysia
- 1957 – Jo Brand, English comedian, actress, and screenwriter
- 1957 – Nikos Galis, American basketball player
- 1957 – Theo van Gogh, Dutch actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2004)
- 1957 – Quentin Willson, English TV presenter, Top Gear.
- 1958 – Ken Green, American golfer
- 1958 – Tomy Winata, Indonesian businessman and philanthropist, founded the Artha Graha Peduli Foundation
- 1959 – Nancy Savoca, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1960 – Gary Ella, Australian rugby player
- 1960 – Susan Graham, American soprano and educator
- 1960 – Al Perez, American wrestler
- 1961 – André Ducharme, Canadian comedian and author
- 1961 – Michael Durant, American pilot and author
- 1961 – Martin Gore, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1961 – Woody Harrelson, American actor and activist
- 1961 – Milind Gunaji, Indian actor, model, television show host, and author
- 1962 – Eriq La Salle, American actor, director, and producer
- 1962 – Mark Laurie, Australian rugby league player
- 1962 – Alain Lefèvre, Canadian pianist and composer
- 1963 – Slobodan Zivojinovic, Serbian tennis player
- 1964 – Uwe Barth, German politician
- 1964 – Nick Menza, German drummer and songwriter (d. 2016)
- 1965 – Rob Dickinson, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1965 – Slash, English-American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
- 1967 – Philip Seymour Hoffman, American actor, director, and producer (d. 2014)
- 1968 – Elden Campbell, American basketball player
- 1968 – Gary Payton, American basketball player and actor
- 1968 – Stephanie Seymour, American model and actress
- 1969 – Andrew Cassels, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1970 – Charisma Carpenter, American actress
- 1970 – Thea Dorn, German author and playwright
- 1970 – Sam Watters, American singer-songwriter and producer
- 1971 – Dalvin DeGrate, American rapper and producer
- 1971 – Alison Krauss, American singer-songwriter and fiddler
- 1971 – Joel Stein, American journalist
- 1972 – Suat Kılıç, Turkish journalist, lawyer, and politician, Turkish Minister of Youth and Sports
- 1972 – Floyd Reifer, Barbadian cricketer and coach
- 1972 – Marlon Wayans, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1973 – Nomar Garciaparra, American baseball player and sportscaster
- 1973 – Fran Healy, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1973 – Himesh Reshammiya, Indian singer-songwriter, producer, actor, and director
- 1973 – Andrea Scanavacca, Italian rugby player and manager
- 1974 – Terry Glenn, American football player and coach (d. 2017)
- 1974 – Maurice Greene, American sprinter
- 1974 – Rik Verbrugghe, Belgian cyclist
- 1975 – Dan Rogerson, English politician
- 1976 – Judit Polgár, Hungarian chess player
- 1977 – Scott Clemmensen, American ice hockey player and coach
- 1977 – Gail Emms, English badminton player
- 1977 – Néicer Reasco, Ecuadorian footballer
- 1977 – Shawn Thornton, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1978 – Stuart Elliott, Northern Irish footballer
- 1978 – Stefanie Sun, Singaporean singer-songwriter and pianist
- 1978 – Lauren Groff, American novelist and short story writer
- 1979 – Perro Aguayo Jr., Mexican wrestler and promoter (d. 2015)
- 1979 – Sotirios Kyrgiakos, Greek footballer
- 1979 – Richard Sims, Zimbabwean cricketer
- 1979 – Ricardo Sperafico, Brazilian race car driver
- 1979 – Cathleen Tschirch, German sprinter
- 1980 – Sandeep Parikh, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1980 – Michelle Williams, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
- 1981 – Steve Jocz, Canadian singer-songwriter, drummer, and director
- 1981 – Dmitriy Karpov, Kazakhstani decathlete
- 1981 – Aleksandr Kulik, Estonian footballer
- 1981 – Jarkko Nieminen, Finnish tennis player
- 1982 – Ömer Aysan Barış, Turkish footballer
- 1982 – Joe Mather, American baseball player
- 1982 – Gökhan Ünal, Turkish footballer
- 1982 – Gerald Wallace, American basketball player
- 1982 – Paul Wesley, American actor, director, and producer
- 1983 – Bec Hewitt, Australian actress
- 1983 – Aaron Peirsol, American swimmer
- 1983 – David Strettle, English rugby player
- 1984 – Walter Gargano, Uruguayan footballer
- 1984 – Matthew Murphy, English singer and guitarist
- 1984 – Brandon Roy, American basketball player
- 1984 – Celeste Thorson, American actress, producer, and screenwriter
- 1985 – Luis Ángel Landín, Mexican footballer
- 1986 – Aya Uchida, Japanese voice actress and singer
- 1986 – Nelson Philippe, French race car driver
- 1986 – Yelena Sokolova, Russian long jumper
- 1987 – Alessio Cerci, Italian footballer
- 1987 – Felipe Dylon, Brazilian singer
- 1987 – Serdar Kurtuluş, Turkish footballer
- 1989 – Daniel Radcliffe, English actor
- 1989 – Donald Young, American tennis player
- 1990 – Kevin Reynolds, Canadian figure skater
- 1991 – Lauren Mitchell, Australian gymnast
- 1991 – Jarrod Wallace, Australian rugby league footballer
- 1992 – Danny Ings, English footballer
- 1996 – Alexandra Andresen, Norwegian heiress and equestrian
Deaths on July 23
- 955 – He Ning, Chinese chancellor (b. 898)
- 997 – Nuh II, Samanid emir (b. 963)
- 1100 – Warner of Grez, French nobleman, relative of Godfrey of Bouillon
- 1227 – Qiu Chuji, Chinese religious leader, founded the Dragon Gate Taoism (b. 1148)
- 1298 – Thoros III, Armenian king (b. c. 1271)
- 1373 – Bridget of Sweden, Swedish mystic and saint, founded the Bridgettine Order (b. 1303)
- 1403 – Thomas Percy, 1st Earl of Worcester, English rebel (b. 1343)
- 1531 – Louis de Brézé, French husband of Diane de Poitiers
- 1536 – Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1519)
- 1562 – Götz von Berlichingen, German knight and poet (b. 1480)
- 1584 – John Day, English printer (b. 1522)
- 1596 – Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon (b. 1526)
- 1645 – Michael I, Russian tsar (b. 1596)
- 1692 – Gilles Ménage, French lawyer, philologist, and scholar (b. 1613)
- 1727 – Simon Harcourt, 1st Viscount Harcourt, English politician, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain (b. 1661)
- 1757 – Domenico Scarlatti, Italian harpsichord player and composer (b. 1685)
- 1773 – George Edwards, English biologist and ornithologist (b. 1693)
- 1781 – John Joachim Zubly, Swiss-American pastor and politician (b. 1724)
- 1793 – Roger Sherman, American lawyer and politician (b. 1721)
- 1833 – Anselmo de la Cruz, Chilean politician, Chilean Minister of Finance (b. 1777)
- 1853 – Andries Pretorius, South African general (b. 1798)
- 1875 – Isaac Singer, American businessman, founded the Singer Corporation (b. 1811)
- 1878 – Carl von Rokitansky, Bohemian physician, pathologist, and politician (b. 1804)
- 1885 – Ulysses S. Grant, American general and politician, 18th President of the United States (b. 1822)
- 1904 – John Douglas, English-Australian politician, 7th Premier of Queensland (b. 1828)
- 1909 – Frederick Holder, Australian politician, 19th Premier of South Australia (b. 1850)
- 1916 – William Ramsay, Scottish-English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1852)
- 1919 – Spyridon Lambros, Greek historian and politician, 100th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1851)
- 1920 – Conrad Kohrs, German-American rancher and politician (b. 1835)
- 1924 – Frank Frost Abbott, American author and scholar (b. 1850)
- 1926 – Viktor Vasnetsov, Russian painter (b. 1848)
- 1927 – Reginald Dyer, British brigadier general (b. 1864)
- 1930 – Glenn Curtiss, American pilot and engineer (b. 1878)
- 1932 – Tenby Davies, Welsh runner (b. 1884)
- 1936 – Anna Abrikosova, Russian linguist (b. 1882)
- 1941 – George Lyman Kittredge, American scholar and educator (b. 1860)
- 1941 – José Quiñones Gonzales, Peruvian soldier and pilot (b. 1914)
- 1942 – Adam Czerniaków, Polish engineer and politician (b. 1880)
- 1942 – Andy Ducat, English cricketer and footballer (b. 1886)
- 1948 – D. W. Griffith, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1875)
- 1950 – Shigenori Tōgō, Japanese politician and diplomat, Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1882)
- 1951 – Robert J. Flaherty, American director and producer (b. 1884)
- 1951 – Philippe Pétain, French general and politician, 119th Prime Minister of France (b. 1856)
- 1954 – Herman Groman, American runner (b. 1882)
- 1955 – Cordell Hull, American captain, lawyer, and politician, 47th United States Secretary of State, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1871)
- 1957 – Bob Shiring, American football player and coach (b. 1870)
- 1966 – Montgomery Clift, American actor (b. 1920)
- 1968 – Henry Hallett Dale, English pharmacologist and physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1875)
- 1971 – Van Heflin, American actor (b. 1910)
- 1972 – Esther Applin, American geologist and paleontologist (b. 1895)
- 1973 – Eddie Rickenbacker, American pilot and race car driver, founded Rickenbacker Motors (b. 1890)
- 1979 – Joseph Kessel, French journalist and author (b. 1898)
- 1980 – Sarto Fournier, Canadian lawyer and politician, 38th Mayor of Montreal (b. 1908)
- 1980 – Keith Godchaux, American keyboard player and songwriter (b. 1948)
- 1980 – Mollie Steimer, Russian activist (b. 1897)
- 1982 – Vic Morrow, American actor (b. 1929)
- 1983 – Georges Auric, French composer (b. 1899)
- 1985 – Johnny Wardle, English cricketer and manager (b. 1923)
- 1989 – Donald Barthelme, American short story writer and novelist (b. 1931)
- 1990 – Kenjiro Takayanagi, Japanese engineer (b. 1899)
- 1996 – Jean Muir, American actress (b. 1911)
- 1997 – Chūhei Nambu, Japanese jumper and journalist (b. 1904)
- 1999 – Hassan II of Morocco (b. 1929)
- 2001 – Eudora Welty, American novelist and short story writer (b. 1909)
- 2002 – Leo McKern, Australian-English actor (b. 1920)
- 2002 – William Luther Pierce, American activist and author (b. 1933)
- 2002 – Chaim Potok, American novelist and rabbi (b. 1929)
- 2002 – Clark Gesner, American author and composer (b. 1938)
- 2003 – James E. Davis, American police officer and politician (b. 1962)
- 2004 – Mehmood Ali, Indian actor, director, and producer (b. 1932)
- 2004 – Carlos Paredes, Portuguese guitarist and composer (b. 1925)
- 2004 – Piero Piccioni, Italian pianist, conductor, and composer (b. 1921)
- 2005 – Ted Greene, American guitarist and journalist (b. 1946)
- 2006 – Jean-Paul Desbiens, Canadian journalist and academic (b. 1927)
- 2007 – Ron Miller, American songwriter and producer (b. 1933)
- 2007 – Mohammed Zahir Shah, Afghan king (b. 1914)
- 2008 – Kurt Furgler, Swiss lawyer and politician, 70th President of the Swiss Confederation (b. 1924)
- 2009 – E. Lynn Harris, American author and screenwriter (b. 1955)
- 2010 – Daniel Schorr, American journalist and author (b. 1916)
- 2011 – Amy Winehouse, English singer-songwriter (b. 1983)
- 2012 – Margaret Mahy, New Zealand author (b. 1936)
- 2012 – Sally Ride, American physicist and astronaut (b. 1951)
- 2012 – Lakshmi Sahgal, Indian soldier and politician (b. 1914)
- 2012 – Esther Tusquets, Spanish publisher and author (b. 1936)
- 2012 – José Luis Uribarri, Spanish television host and director (b. 1936)
- 2013 – Dominguinhos, Brazilian singer-songwriter and accordion player (b. 1941)
- 2013 – Pauline Clarke, English author (b. 1921)
- 2013 – Arthur J. Collingsworth, American diplomat (b. 1944)
- 2013 – Emile Griffith, American boxer and trainer (b. 1938)
- 2013 – Kim Jong-hak, South Korean director and producer (b. 1951)
- 2013 – Djalma Santos, Brazilian footballer (b. 1929)
- 2014 – Dora Bryan, English actress and restaurateur (b. 1923)
- 2014 – Norman Leyden, American composer and conductor (b. 1917)
- 2014 – Ariano Suassuna, Brazilian author and playwright (b. 1927)
- 2014 – Jordan Tabor, English footballer (b. 1990)
- 2015 – Shigeko Kubota, Japanese-American sculptor and director (b. 1937)
- 2015 – Don Oberdorfer, American journalist, author, and academic (b. 1931)
- 2015 – William Wakefield Baum, American cardinal (b. 1926)
- 2017 – John Kundla, American basketball coach (b. 1916)
Holidays and observances on July 23
- Birthday of Haile Selassie (Rastafari)
- Children’s Day (Indonesia)
- Christian feast day:
- Bridget of Sweden
- Heiromartyr Phocas (Eastern Orthodox)
- John Cassian (Western Christianity)
- Liborius of Le Mans
- Margarita María
- Mercè Prat i Prat
- Rasyphus and Ravennus
- July 23 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- National Remembrance Day (Papua New Guinea)
- Renaissance Day (Oman)
- Revolution Day (Egypt)
-
June 30 in History
- 296 – Pope Marcellinus begins his papacy.
- 763 – The Byzantine army of emperor Constantine V defeats the Bulgarian forces in the Battle of Anchialus.
- 1422 – Battle of Arbedo between the duke of Milan and the Swiss cantons.
- 1521 – Spanish forces defeat a combined French and Navarrese army at the Battle of Noáin during the Spanish conquest of Iberian Navarre.
- 1559 – King Henry II of France is mortally wounded in a jousting match against Gabriel, comte de Montgomery.
- 1651 – The Deluge: Khmelnytsky Uprising: The Battle of Berestechko ends with a Polish victory.
- 1688 – The Immortal Seven issue the Invitation to William, which would culminate in the Glorious Revolution.
- 1758 – Seven Years’ War: Habsburg Austrian forces destroy a Prussian reinforcement and supply convoy in the Battle of Domstadtl, helping to expel Prussian King Frederick the Great from Moravia.
- 1794 – Northwest Indian War: Native American forces under Blue Jacket attack Fort Recovery.
- 1805 – Under An act to divide the Indiana Territory into two separate governments, adopted by the U.S. Congress on January 11, 1805, the Michigan Territory is organized.
- 1859 – French acrobat Charles Blondin crosses Niagara Falls on a tightrope.
- 1860 – The 1860 Oxford evolution debate at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History takes place.
- 1864 – U.S. President Abraham Lincoln grants Yosemite Valley to California for “public use, resort and recreation”.
- 1882 – Charles J. Guiteau is hanged in Washington, D.C. for the assassination of U.S. President James Garfield.
- 1886 – The first transcontinental train trip across Canada departs from Montreal, Quebec. It arrives in Port Moody, British Columbia on July 4.
- 1892 – The Homestead Strike begins near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
- 1905 – Albert Einstein sends the article On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies, in which he introduces special relativity, for publication in Annalen der Physik.
- 1906 – The United States Congress passes the Meat Inspection Act and Pure Food and Drug Act.
- 1908 – The Tunguska Event, the largest impact event on Earth in human recorded history, resulting in a massive explosion over Eastern Siberia.
- 1912 – The Regina Cyclone, Canada’s deadliest tornado event, kills 28 people in Regina, Saskatchewan.
- 1916 – World War I: In “the day Sussex died”, elements of the Royal Sussex Regiment take heavy casualties in the Battle of the Boar’s Head at Richebourg-l’Avoué in France.
- 1921 – U.S. President Warren G. Harding appoints former President William Howard Taft as Chief Justice of the United States.
- 1922 – In Washington D.C., U.S. Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes and Dominican Ambassador Francisco J. Peynado sign the Hughes–Peynado agreement, which ends the United States occupation of the Dominican Republic.
- 1934 – The Night of the Long Knives, Adolf Hitler’s violent purge of his political rivals in Germany, takes place.
- 1936 – Emperor Haile Selassie of Abyssinia appeals for aid to the League of Nations against Italy’s invasion of his country.
- 1937 – The world’s first emergency telephone number, 999, is introduced in London.
- 1944 – World War II: The Battle of Cherbourg ends with the fall of the strategically valuable port to American forces.
- 1953 – The first Chevrolet Corvette rolls off the assembly line in Flint, Michigan.
- 1956 – A TWA Super Constellation and a United Airlines DC-7 collide above the Grand Canyon in Arizona and crash, killing all 128 on board both airliners.
- 1959 – A United States Air Force F-100 Super Sabre from Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, crashes into a nearby elementary school, killing 11 students plus six residents from the local neighborhood.
- 1960 – Belgian Congo gains independence as Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville).
- 1963 – Ciaculli bombing: a car bomb, intended for Mafia boss Salvatore Greco, kills seven police officers and military personnel near Palermo.
- 1966 – The National Organization for Women, the United States’ largest feminist organization, is founded.
- 1968 – Pope Paul VI issues the Credo of the People of God.
- 1971 – The crew of the Soviet Soyuz 11 spacecraft are killed when their air supply escapes through a faulty valve.
- 1972 – The first leap second is added to the UTC time system.
- 1974 – The Baltimore municipal strike of 1974 begins.
- 1977 – The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization disbands.
- 1985 – Thirty-nine American hostages from the hijacked TWA Flight 847 are freed in Beirut after being held for 17 days.
- 1986 – The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Bowers v. Hardwick that states can outlaw homosexual acts between consenting adults.
- 1990 – East Germany and West Germany merge their economies.
- 1994 – During a test flight of an Airbus A330-300 at Toulouse–Blagnac Airport, the aircraft crashes killing all seven people on board.
- 1997 – The United Kingdom transfers sovereignty over Hong Kong to China.
- 2005 – MTV Canada is rebranded as Razer
- 2007 – A Jeep Cherokee filled with propane canisters drives into the entrance of Glasgow Airport, Scotland in a failed terrorist attack. This was linked to the 2007 London car bombs that had taken place the day before.
- 2009 – Yemenia Flight 626, an Airbus A310-300, crashes into the Indian Ocean near Comoros, killing 152 of the 153 people on board. A 14-year-old girl named Bahia Bakari survives the crash.
- 2013 – Nineteen firefighters die controlling a wildfire in Yarnell, Arizona.
- 2013 – Protests begin around Egypt against President Mohamed Morsi and the ruling Freedom and Justice Party, leading to their overthrow during the 2013 Egyptian coup d’état.
- 2015 – A Hercules C-130 military aircraft with 113 people on board crashes in a residential area in Medan, Indonesia, resulting in at least 116 deaths.
- 2019 – Donald Trump becomes the first sitting US President to visit the Democratic Republic of Korea.
Births on June 30
- 1286 – John de Warenne, 7th Earl of Surrey, English magnate (d. 1347)
- 1468 – John, Elector of Saxony (d. 1532)
- 1470 – Charles VIII of France (d. 1498)
- 1478 – John, Prince of Asturias, Son of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile (d. 1497)
- 1503 – John Frederick I, Elector of Saxony (d. 1554)
- 1533 – Martín de Rada, Spanish missionary (d. 1578)
- 1588 – Giovanni Maria Sabino, Italian organist, composer, and educator (d. 1649)
- 1641 – Meinhardt Schomberg, 3rd Duke of Schomberg, German-English general (d. 1719)
- 1685 – John Gay, English poet and playwright (d. 1732)
- 1688 – Abu l-Hasan Ali I, ruler of Tunisia (d. 1756)
- 1722 – Jiří Antonín Benda, Czech composer, violinist and Kapellmeister (d. 1795)
- 1755 – Paul Barras, French soldier and politician (d. 1829)
- 1789 – Horace Vernet, French painter and academic (d. 1863)
- 1791 – Félix Savart, French physicist and psychologist (d. 1841)
- 1803 – Thomas Lovell Beddoes, English poet, playwright, and physician (d. 1849)
- 1807 – Friedrich Theodor Vischer, German author, poet, and playwright (d.1887)
- 1817 – Joseph Dalton Hooker, English botanist and explorer (d. 1911)
- 1843 – Ernest Mason Satow, English orientalist and diplomat (d. 1929)
- 1864 – Frederick Bligh Bond, English architect and archaeologist (d. 1945)
- 1884 – Georges Duhamel, French author and critic (d. 1966)
- 1889 – Archibald Frazer-Nash, English motor car designer, engineer and founder of Frazer Nash (d. 1965)
- 1890 – Paul Boffa, Maltese physician and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Malta (d. 1962)
- 1891 – Man Mountain Dean, American wrestler and sergeant (d. 1953)
- 1891 – Ed Lewis, American wrestler and manager (d. 1966)
- 1891 – Stanley Spencer, English painter (d. 1959)
- 1892 – Pierre Blanchar, Algerian-French actor and director (d. 1963)
- 1893 – Walter Ulbricht, German soldier and politician (d. 1973)
- 1895 – Heinz Warneke, German-American sculptor and educator (d. 1983)
- 1899 – Madge Bellamy, American actress (d. 1990)
- 1905 – John Van Ryn, American tennis player (d. 1999)
- 1906 – Anthony Mann, American actor and director (d. 1967)
- 1907 – Roman Shukhevych, Ukrainian general and politician (d. 1950)
- 1908 – Winston Graham, English author (d. 2003)
- 1908 – Luigi Rovere, Italian film producer (d. 1996)
- 1908 – Rob Nieuwenhuys, Dutch writer (d. 1999)
- 1909 – Juan Bosch, 43rd President of the Dominican Republic (d. 2001)
- 1911 – Czesław Miłosz, Polish novelist, essayist, and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2004)
- 1911 – Nagarjun, Indian poet (d. 1998)
- 1912 – Ludwig Bölkow, German engineer (d. 2003)
- 1912 – Dan Reeves, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1971)
- 1912 – María Luisa Dehesa Gómez Farías, Mexican architect (d. 2009)
- 1913 – Alfonso López Michelsen, Colombian lawyer and politician, 24th President of Colombia (d. 2007)
- 1913 – Harry Wismer, American sportscaster (d. 1967)
- 1914 – Francisco da Costa Gomes, Portuguese general and politician, 15th President of Portugal (d. 2001)
- 1914 – Allan Houser, American sculptor and painter (d. 1994)
- 1917 – Susan Hayward, American actress (d. 1975)
- 1917 – Lena Horne, American actress, singer, and activist (d. 2010)
- 1917 – Willa Kim, American costume designer (d. 2016)
- 1919 – Ed Yost, American inventor of the modern hot air balloon (d. 2007)
- 1920 – Eleanor Ross Taylor, American poet and educator (d. 2011)
- 1921 – Washington SyCip, American-Filipino accountant (d. 2017)
- 1922 – Al Besselink, American professional golfer
- 1923 – Andy Jack, English footballer
- 1924 – Max Trepp, Swiss sprinter
- 1925 – Fred Schaus, American basketball player and coach (d. 2010)
- 1925 – Ebrahim Amini, Iranian politician (d. 2020)
- 1926 – Paul Berg, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1926 – David Berglas, American magician and mentalist
- 1927 – Shirley Fry Irvin, American tennis player
- 1927 – James Goldman, American screenwriter and playwright (d. 1998)
- 1927 – Mario Lanfranchi, Italian director, screenwriter, producer, collector and actor
- 1927 – Frank McCabe, American basketball player
- 1928 – Hassan Hassanzadeh Amoli, Islamic philosopher, theologian, mathematician and mystic
- 1928 – Nathaniel Tarn, American poet, essayist, anthropologist, and translator
- 1929 – Yang Ti-liang, Chinese judge
- 1930 – Ben Atchley, American politician (d. 2018)
- 1930 – Ahmed Zaki Yamani, Saudi Arabian politician
- 1930 – Ignatius Peter VIII Abdalahad, Syrian bishop (d. 2018)
- 1931 – Yo-Yo Davalillo, Venezuelan baseball player and manager (d. 2013)
- 1931 – Andrew Hill, American pianist and composer (d. 2007)
- 1931 – Ronald Rene Lagueux, American judge
- 1931 – Kaye Vaughan, American football player
- 1933 – Tomislav Ivić, Croatian football coach and manager (d. 2011)
- 1933 – M. J. K. Smith, English cricketer and rugby player
- 1933 – Orval Tessier, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1933 – Joan Murrell Owens, American educator and marine biologist (d. 2011)
- 1934 – Harry Blackstone Jr., American magician and author (d. 1997)
- 1935 – John Harlin, American pilot and mountaineer (d. 1966)
- 1936 – Assia Djebar, Algerian-French author and translator (d. 2015)
- 1936 – Nancy Dussault, American actress and singer
- 1936 – Tony Musante, American actor and screenwriter (d. 2013)
- 1936 – Dave Van Ronk, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2002)
- 1937 – Larry Henley, American singer-songwriter (d. 2014)
- 1938 – Billy Mills, American sprinter
- 1939 – Tony Hatch, English pianist, composer, and producer
- 1939 – Barry Hines, English author and screenwriter (d. 2016)
- 1939 – José Emilio Pacheco, Mexican poet and author (d. 2014)
- 1940 – Mark Spoelstra, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2007)
- 1941 – Peter Pollock, South African cricketer and author
- 1942 – Robert Ballard, American lieutenant and oceanographer
- 1942 – Ron Harris, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1943 – Florence Ballard, American pop/soul singer (d. 1976)
- 1943 – Saeed Akhtar Mirza, Indian director and screenwriter
- 1944 – Raymond Moody, American parapsychologist and author
- 1944 – Glenn Shorrock, English-Australian singer-songwriter
- 1944 – Ron Swoboda, American baseball player and sportscaster
- 1949 – Uwe Kliemann, German footballer, coach, and manager
- 1949 – Andy Scott, Welsh singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1951 – Stanley Clarke, American bass player and composer
- 1952 – Athanassios S. Fokas, Greek mathematician and academic
- 1952 – David Garrison, American actor and singer
- 1953 – Hal Lindes, American-English guitarist and film score composer
- 1954 – Stephen Barlow, English organist, composer, and conductor
- 1954 – Pierre Charles, Dominican educator and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Dominica (d. 2004)
- 1954 – Serzh Sargsyan, Armenian politician, 3rd President of Armenia
- 1954 – Wayne Swan, Australian academic and politician, 14th Deputy Prime Minister of Australia
- 1955 – Brian Vollmer, Canadian singer
- 1955 – Egils Levits, Latvian judge, jurist, 10th President of Latvia
- 1956 – Volker Beck, German hurdler and coach
- 1956 – David Lidington, English historian, academic, and politician, Minister of State for Europe
- 1956 – David Alan Grier, American actor, singer, and comedian
- 1957 – Bud Black, American baseball player and manager
- 1957 – Sterling Marlin, American race car driver
- 1958 – Pam Royle, British television presenter, journalist and voice coach
- 1958 – Esa-Pekka Salonen, Finnish conductor and composer
- 1959 – Vincent D’Onofrio, American actor
- 1959 – Daniel Goldhagen, American political scientist, author, and academic
- 1959 – Brendan Perry, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1959 – Sakis Tsiolis, Greek footballer and manager
- 1959 – Sandip Verma, Baroness Verma, Indian-English businesswoman and politician
- 1960 – Jack McConnell, Scottish educator and politician, 3rd First Minister of Scotland
- 1960 – Murray Cook, Australian musician, actor, songwriter and producer
- 1961 – Lynne Jolitz, American computer scientist and programmer
- 1961 – Clive Nolan, English musician, composer and producer
- 1962 – Tony Fernández, Dominican baseball player
- 1962 – Julianne Regan, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1963 – Olha Bryzhina, Ukrainian sprinter
- 1963 – Rupert Graves, English actor, director, and screenwriter
- 1963 – Yngwie Malmsteen, Swedish guitarist and songwriter
- 1964 – Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg
- 1964 – Mark Waters, American director and producer
- 1965 – Steve Duchesne, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach
- 1965 – Cho Jae-hyun, South Korean actor
- 1965 – Anna Levandi, Russian figure skater and coach
- 1965 – Gary Pallister, English footballer and sportscaster
- 1965 – Mitch Richmond, American basketball player
- 1966 – Mike Tyson, American boxer and actor
- 1967 – Patrik Bodén, Swedish javelin thrower
- 1967 – David Busst, English footballer and manager
- 1967 – Victoria Kaspi, American-Canadian astrophysicist and academic
- 1968 – Phil Anselmo, American singer-songwriter and producer
- 1969 – Sanath Jayasuriya, Sri Lankan cricketer and politician
- 1969 – Uta Rohländer, German sprinter
- 1969 – Sébastien Rose, Canadian director and screenwriter
- 1970 – Brian Bloom, American actor and screenwriter
- 1970 – Antonio Chimenti, Italian footballer and manager
- 1970 – Mark Grudzielanek, American baseball player and manager
- 1971 – Monica Potter, American actress
- 1972 – Sandra Cam, Belgian swimmer
- 1973 – Chan Ho Park, South Korean baseball player
- 1973 – Frank Rost, German footballer and manager
- 1974 – Hezekiél Sepeng, South African runner
- 1975 – James Bannatyne, New Zealand footballer
- 1975 – Ralf Schumacher, German race car driver
- 1978 – Ben Cousins, Australian footballer
- 1978 – Patrick Ivuti, Kenyan runner
- 1978 – Claudio Rivalta, Italian footballer
- 1979 – Sylvain Chavanel, French cyclist
- 1980 – Rade Prica, Swedish footballer
- 1980 – Seyi Olofinjana, Nigerian footballer
- 1980 – Ryan ten Doeschate, Dutch cricketer
- 1981 – Can Artam, Turkish race car driver
- 1981 – Matt Kirk, Canadian football player
- 1981 – Barbora Špotáková, Czech javelin thrower
- 1981 – Ben Utecht, American football player
- 1982 – Lizzy Caplan, American actress
- 1982 – Ignacio Carrasco, Mexican footballer
- 1983 – Marcus Burghardt, German cyclist
- 1983 – Katherine Ryan, UK-based Canadian comedian and presenter
- 1983 – Cheryl, English singer and TV personality
- 1984 – Fantasia Barrino, American singer-songwriter and actress
- 1984 – Tunku Ismail Idris, Crown Prince of Johor, Malaysia
- 1985 – Trevor Ariza, American basketball player
- 1985 – Michael Phelps, American swimmer
- 1985 – Fabiana Vallejos, Argentinian footballer
- 1986 – Alicia Fox, American wrestler, model, and actress
- 1986 – Fredy Guarín, Colombian footballer
- 1986 – Nicola Pozzi, Italian footballer
- 1986 – Allegra Versace, Italian-American businesswoman
- 1987 – Ryan Cook, American baseball player
- 1987 – Andrew Hedgman, New Zealand runner
- 1988 – Elisa Jordana, American singer-songwriter, radio and TV personality
- 1989 – Asbel Kiprop, Kenyan runner
- 1989 – Steffen Liebig, German rugby player
- 1989 – David Myers, Australian footballer
- 1990 – N, South Korean singer
- 1998 – Tom Davies, English footballer
Deaths on June 30
- 350 – Nepotianus, Roman ruler
- 710 – Erentrude, Frankish abbess
- 888 – Æthelred, archbishop of Canterbury
- 945 – Ki no Tsurayuki, Japanese writer and poet (b. 872)
- 1181 – Hugh de Kevelioc, 5th Earl of Chester, Welsh politician (b. 1147)
- 1224 – Adolf of Osnabrück, German monk and bishop (b. 1185)
- 1278 – Pierre de la Broce, French courtier
- 1337 – Eleanor de Clare, English noblewoman (b. 1290)
- 1364 – Arnošt of Pardubice, Czech archbishop (b. 1297)
- 1538 – Charles II, Duke of Guelders (b. 1467)
- 1522 – Johann Reuchlin, German humanist and Hebrew scholar (b. 1455)
- 1607 – Caesar Baronius, Italian cardinal and historian (b. 1538)
- 1649 – Simon Vouet, French painter (b. 1590)
- 1660 – William Oughtred, English minister and mathematician (b. 1575)
- 1666 – Alexander Brome, English poet and playwright (b. 1620)
- 1670 – Henrietta of England (b. 1644)
- 1704 – John Quelch, English pirate (b. 1665)
- 1708 – Tekle Haymanot I of Ethiopia (b. 1684)
- 1709 – Edward Lhuyd, Welsh botanist, linguist, and geographer (b. 1660)
- 1785 – James Oglethorpe, English general and politician, 1st Colonial Governor of Georgia (b. 1696)
- 1796 – Abraham Yates Jr., American lawyer and politician (b. 1724)
- 1857 – Alcide d’Orbigny, French zoologist and paleontologist (b. 1802)
- 1882 – Charles J. Guiteau, American preacher and lawyer, assassin of James A. Garfield (b. 1841)
- 1882 – Alberto Henschel, German-Brazilian photographer and businessman (b. 1827)
- 1890 – Samuel Parkman Tuckerman, American organist and composer (b. 1819)
- 1908 – Thomas Hill, American painter (b. 1829)
- 1913 – Alphonse Kirchhoffer, French fencer (b. 1873)
- 1916 – Eunice Eloisae Gibbs Allyn, American correspondent, author, and poet (b. 1847)
- 1917 – Antonio de La Gándara, French painter and illustrator (b. 1861)
- 1917 – Dadabhai Naoroji, Parsi intellectual, educator, cotton trader, and an early Indian political and social leader (b. 1825)
- 1919 – John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh, English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1842)
- 1932 – Bruno Kastner, German actor, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1890)
- 1934 – Karl Ernst, German soldier (b. 1904)
- 1934 – Erich Klausener, German soldier and politician (b. 1885)
- 1934 – Gustav Ritter von Kahr, German lawyer and politician, Minister-President of Bavaria (b. 1862)
- 1934 – Gregor Strasser, German lieutenant and politician (b. 1892)
- 1934 – Kurt von Schleicher, German general and politician, 23rd Chancellor of Germany (b. 1882)
- 1941 – Yefim Fomin, Belarusian politician (b. 1909)
- 1941 – Aleksander Tõnisson, Estonian general and politician, 5th Estonian Minister of War (b. 1875)
- 1948 – Prince Sabahaddin, Turkish-Swiss sociologist and academic (b. 1879)
- 1949 – Édouard Alphonse James de Rothschild, French financier and polo player (b. 1868)
- 1951 – Yrjö Saarela, Finnish wrestler and coach (b. 1884)
- 1953 – Elsa Beskow, Swedish author and illustrator (b. 1874)
- 1953 – Charles William Miller, Brazilian footballer and civil servant (b. 1874)
- 1954 – Andrass Samuelsen, Faroese politician, 1st Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands (b. 1873)
- 1956 – Thorleif Lund, Norwegian actor (b. 1880)
- 1959 – José Vasconcelos, Mexican philosopher and politician (b. 1882)
- 1961 – Lee de Forest, American inventor, invented the audion tube (b. 1873)
- 1966 – Giuseppe Farina, Italian race car driver (b. 1906)
- 1966 – Margery Allingham, English author of detective fiction (b. 1904)
- 1968 – Ernst Marcus, German zoologist (b. 1893)
- 1971 – Georgi Asparuhov, Bulgarian footballer (b. 1943)
- 1971 – Herbert Biberman, American director and screenwriter (b. 1900)
- 1971 – Georgy Dobrovolsky Ukrainian pilot and astronaut (b. 1928)
- 1971 – Nikola Kotkov, Bulgarian footballer (b. 1938)
- 1971 – Viktor Patsayev, Kazakh engineer and astronaut (b. 1933)
- 1971 – Vladislav Volkov, Russian engineer and astronaut (b. 1935)
- 1973 – Nancy Mitford, English journalist and author (b. 1904)
- 1973 – Vasyl Velychkovsky, Ukrainian-Canadian bishop and martyr (b. 1903)
- 1974 – Alberta Williams King, Civil rights activist (b. 1904)
- 1976 – Firpo Marberry, American baseball player and umpire (b. 1898)
- 1984 – Lillian Hellman, American author and playwright (b. 1905)
- 1985 – Haruo Remeliik, Palauan politician, 1st President of Palau (b. 1933)
- 1995 – Georgy Beregovoy, Ukrainian general and astronaut (b. 1921)
- 1995 – Gale Gordon, American actor and voice artist (b. 1906)
- 1996 – Lakis Petropoulos, Greek footballer and manager (b. 1932)
- 2001 – Chet Atkins, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1924)
- 2001 – Joe Henderson, American saxophonist and composer (b. 1937)
- 2002 – Chico Xavier, Brazilian medium and author (b. 1910)
- 2003 – Buddy Hackett, American actor and comedian (b. 1924)
- 2003 – Robert McCloskey, American author and illustrator (b. 1915)
- 2004 – Eddie Burns, Australian rugby league player (b. 1916)
- 2007 – Sahib Singh Verma, Indian librarian and politician, 4th Chief Minister of Delhi (b. 1943)
- 2009 – Pina Bausch, German dancer, choreographer, and director (b. 1940)
- 2009 – Harve Presnell, American actor and singer (b. 1933)
- 2012 – Michael Abney-Hastings, 14th Earl of Loudoun, English-Australian politician (b. 1942)
- 2012 – Yitzhak Shamir, Israeli politician, 7th Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1915)
- 2012 – Michael J. Ybarra, American journalist and author (b. 1966)
- 2013 – Alan Campbell, Baron Campbell of Alloway, English lawyer and judge (b. 1917)
- 2013 – Akpor Pius Ewherido, Nigerian politician (b. 1963)
- 2013 – Kathryn Morrison, American educator and politician (b. 1942)
- 2013 – Thompson Oliha, Nigerian footballer (b. 1968)
- 2013 – Keith Seaman, Australian politician, 29th Governor of South Australia (b. 1920)
- 2014 – Frank Cashen, American businessman (b. 1925)
- 2014 – Paul Mazursky, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1930)
- 2014 – Željko Šturanović, Montenegrin lawyer and politician, 31st Prime Minister of Montenegro (b. 1960)
- 2015 – Charles W. Bagnal, American general (b. 1934)
- 2015 – Robert Dewar, English-American computer scientist and academic (b. 1945)
- 2015 – Arthur Porter, Canadian physician and academic (b. 1956)
- 2015 – Leonard Starr, American author and illustrator (b. 1925)
- 2017 – Barry Norman, English television presenter (b. 1933)
- 2017 – Simone Veil, French lawyer and politician (b. 1927)
Holidays and observances on June 30
- Christian feast day:
- Martial
- Theobald of Provins
- First Martyrs of the Church of Rome
- June 30 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Armed Forces Day (Guatemala)
- Asteroid Day (International observance)
- General Prayer Day (Central African Republic)
- Independence Day (Democratic Republic of the Congo), celebrates the independence of Democratic Republic of the Congo from Belgium in 1960.
- Navy Day (Israel)
- Philippine–Spanish Friendship Day (Philippines)
- Revolution Day (Sudan)
- Teachers’ Day (Dominican Republic)
-
June 26 in History
- 4 AD – Augustus adopts Tiberius.
- 221 – Roman emperor Elagabalus adopts his cousin Alexander Severus as his heir and receives the title of Caesar.
- 363 – Roman emperor Julian is killed during the retreat from the Sasanian Empire.
- 684 – Pope Benedict II is chosen.
- 699 – En no Ozuno, a Japanese mystic and apothecary who will later be regarded as the founder of a folk religion Shugendō, is banished to Izu Ōshima.
- 1243 – Mongols defeat the Seljuk Turks at the Battle of Köse Dağ.
- 1295 – Przemysł II crowned king of Poland, following Ducal period. The white eagle is added to the Polish coat of arms.
- 1407 – Ulrich von Jungingen becomes Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights.
- 1409 – Western Schism: The Roman Catholic Church is led into a double schism as Petros Philargos is crowned Pope Alexander V after the Council of Pisa, joining Pope Gregory XII in Rome and Pope Benedict XII in Avignon.
- 1460 – Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, and Edward, Earl of March, land in England with a rebel army and march on London.
- 1483 – Richard III becomes King of England.
- 1522 – Ottomans begin the second Siege of Rhodes.
- 1541 – Francisco Pizarro is assassinated in Lima by the son of his former companion and later antagonist, Diego de Almagro the younger. Almagro is later caught and executed.
- 1579 – Livonian campaign of Stephen Báthory begins.
- 1718 – Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia, Peter the Great’s son, mysteriously dies after being sentenced to death by his father for plotting against him.
- 1723 – After a siege and bombardment by cannon, Baku surrenders to the Russians.
- 1740 – A combined force of Spanish, free blacks and allied Indians defeat a British garrison at the Siege of Fort Mose near St. Augustine during the War of Jenkins’ Ear.
- 1794 – French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of Fleurus marked the first successful military use of aircraft.
- 1830 – William IV becomes king of Britain and Hanover.
- 1843 – Treaty of Nanking comes into effect, Hong Kong Island is ceded to the British “in perpetuity”.
- 1848 – End of the June Days Uprising in Paris.
- 1857 – The first investiture of the Victoria Cross in Hyde Park, London.
- 1870 – The Christian holiday of Christmas is declared a federal holiday in the United States.
- 1886 – Henri Moissan isolated elemental Fluorine for the first time.
- 1889 – Bangui is founded by Albert Dolisie and Alfred Uzac in what was then the upper reaches of the French Congo.
- 1906 – The first Grand Prix motor race is held at Le Mans.
- 1909 – The Science Museum in London comes into existence as an independent entity.
- 1917 – World War I: The American Expeditionary Forces begin to arrive in France. They will first enter combat four months later.
- 1918 – World War I: Allied forces under John J. Pershing and James Harbord defeat Imperial German forces under Wilhelm, German Crown Prince in the Battle of Belleau Wood.
- 1924 – The American occupation of the Dominican Republic ends after eight years.
- 1927 – The Cyclone roller coaster opens on Coney Island.
- 1934 – United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Federal Credit Union Act, which establishes credit unions.
- 1936 – Initial flight of the Focke-Wulf Fw 61, the first practical helicopter.
- 1940 – World War II: Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, the Soviet Union presents an ultimatum to Romania requiring it to cede Bessarabia and the northern part of Bukovina.
- 1941 – World War II: Soviet planes bomb Kassa, Hungary (now Košice, Slovakia), giving Hungary the impetus to declare war the next day.
- 1942 – The first flight of the Grumman F6F Hellcat.
- 1944 – World War II: San Marino, a neutral state, is mistakenly bombed by the RAF based on faulty information, leading to 35 civilian deaths.
- 1944 – World War II: The Battle of Osuchy in Osuchy, Poland, one of the largest battles between Nazi Germany and Polish resistance forces, ends with the defeat of the latter.
- 1945 – The United Nations Charter is signed by 50 Allied nations in San Francisco, California.
- 1948 – Cold War: The first supply flights are made in response to the Berlin Blockade.
- 1948 – William Shockley files the original patent for the grown-junction transistor, the first bipolar junction transistor.
- 1948 – Shirley Jackson’s short story The Lottery is published in The New Yorker magazine.
- 1952 – The Pan-Malayan Labour Party is founded in Malaya, as a union of statewide labour parties.
- 1953 – Lavrentiy Beria, head of MVD, is arrested by Nikita Khrushchev and other members of the Politburo.
- 1955 – The South African Congress Alliance adopts the Freedom Charter at the Congress of the People in Kliptown.
- 1959 – Swedish boxer Ingemar Johansson becomes world champion of heavy weight boxing, by defeating American Floyd Patterson on technical knockout after two minutes and three seconds in the third round at Yankee Stadium.
- 1960 – The former British Protectorate of British Somaliland gains its independence as Somaliland.
- 1960 – Madagascar gains its independence from France.
- 1963 – Cold War: U.S. President John F. Kennedy gave his “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech, underlining the support of the United States for democratic West Germany shortly after Soviet-supported East Germany erected the Berlin Wall.
- 1967 – Karol Wojtyła (later John Paul II) made a cardinal by Pope Paul VI.
- 1974 – The Universal Product Code is scanned for the first time to sell a package of Wrigley’s chewing gum at the Marsh Supermarket in Troy, Ohio.
- 1975 – Two FBI agents and a member of the American Indian Movement are killed in a shootout on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota; Leonard Peltier is later convicted of the murders in a controversial trial.
- 1977 – Elvis Presley held his final concert in Indianapolis, Indiana at Market Square Arena.
- 1978 – Air Canada Flight 189, flying to Toronto, overruns the runway and crashes into the Etobicoke Creek ravine. Two of the 107 passengers on board perish.
- 1991 – Yugoslav Wars: The Yugoslav People’s Army begins the Ten-Day War in Slovenia.
- 1995 – Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani deposes his father Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar, in a bloodless coup d’état.
- 1997 – The U.S. Supreme Court rules that the Communications Decency Act violates the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
- 2000 – The Human Genome Project announces the completion of a “rough draft” sequence.
- 2003 – The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Lawrence v. Texas that gender-based sodomy laws are unconstitutional.
- 2006 – Mari Alkatiri, the first Prime Minister of East Timor, resigns after weeks of political unrest.
- 2007 – Pope Benedict XVI reinstates the traditional laws of papal election in which a successful candidate must receive two-thirds of the votes.
- 2008 – A suicide bomber dressed as an Iraqi policeman detonates an explosive vest, killing 25 people.
- 2012 – The Waldo Canyon fire descends into the Mountain Shadows neighborhood in Colorado Springs burning 347 homes in a matter of hours and killing two people.
- 2013 – Riots in China’s Xinjiang region kill at least 36 people and injure 21 others.
- 2013 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled, 5–4, that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional and in violation of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
- 2015 – Five different terrorist attacks in France, Tunisia, Somalia, Kuwait, and Syria occurred on what was dubbed Bloody Friday by international media. Upwards of 750 people were either killed or injured in these uncoordinated attacks.
- 2015 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled, 5–4, that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marriage under the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Births on June 26
- 12 BC – Agrippa Postumus, Roman son of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder (d. 14)
- 1399 – John, Count of Angoulême (d. 1467)
- 1575 – Anne Catherine of Brandenburg (d. 1612)
- 1581 – San Pedro Claver, Spanish Jesuit saint (d. 1654)
- 1600 – Juan de Palafox y Mendoza, Spanish-born bishop and viceroy of New Spain (d. 1659)
- 1681 – Hedvig Sophia of Sweden (d. 1708)
- 1689 – Edward Holyoke, American pastor and academic (d. 1769)
- 1694 – Georg Brandt, Swedish chemist and mineralogist (d. 1768)
- 1699 – Marie Thérèse Rodet Geoffrin, French businesswoman (d. 1777)
- 1702 – Philip Doddridge, English hymn-writer and educator (d. 1751)
- 1703 – Thomas Clap, American minister and academic (d. 1767)
- 1726 – Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia (d. 1796)
- 1730 – Charles Messier, French astronomer and academic (d. 1817)
- 1764 – Jan Paweł Łuszczewski, Polish politician (d. 1812)
- 1796 – Jan Paweł Lelewel, Polish painter and engineer (d. 1847)
- 1798 – Wolfgang Menzel, German poet and critic (d. 1873)
- 1817 – Branwell Brontë, English painter and poet (d. 1848)
- 1819 – Abner Doubleday, American general (d. 1893)
- 1821 – Bartolomé Mitre, Argentinian soldier, journalist, and politician, 6th President of Argentina (d. 1906)
- 1824 – William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, Irish-Scottish physicist and engineer (d. 1907)
- 1835 – Thomas W. Knox, American journalist and author (d. 1896)
- 1839 – Sam Watkins, American soldier and author (d. 1901)
- 1852 – Daoud Corm, Lebanese painter (d. 1930)
- 1854 – Robert Laird Borden, Canadian lawyer and politician, 8th Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1937)
- 1865 – Bernard Berenson, Lithuanian-American historian and author (d. 1959)
- 1866 – George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon, English archaeologist and banker (d. 1923)
- 1869 – Martin Andersen Nexø, Danish journalist and author (d. 1954)
- 1878 – Leopold Löwenheim, German mathematician and logician (d. 1957)
- 1880 – Mitchell Lewis, American actor (d. 1956)
- 1881 – Ya’akov Cohen, Israeli linguist, poet, and playwright (d. 1960)
- 1892 – Pearl S. Buck, American novelist, essayist, short story writer Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1973)
- 1893 – Dorothy Fuldheim, American journalist and news anchor(d. 1989)
- 1895 – George Hainsworth, Canadian ice hockey player and politician (d. 1950)
- 1898 – Willy Messerschmitt, German engineer and businessman (d. 1978)
- 1898 – Chesty Puller, US general (d. 1971)
- 1899 – Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia (d. 1918)
- 1901 – Stuart Symington, American lieutenant and politician, 1st United States Secretary of the Air Force (d. 1988)
- 1902 – Hugues Cuénod, Swiss tenor and educator (d. 2010)
- 1903 – Big Bill Broonzy, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1958)
- 1904 – Frank Scott Hogg, Canadian astronomer and academic (d. 1951)
- 1904 – Peter Lorre, Slovak-American actor and singer (d. 1964)
- 1905 – Lynd Ward, American author and illustrator (d. 1985)
- 1906 – Alberto Rabagliati, Italian singer (d. 1974)
- 1906 – Viktor Schreckengost, American sculptor and educator (d. 2008)
- 1907 – Debs Garms, American baseball player (d. 1984)
- 1908 – Salvador Allende, Chilean physician and politician, 29th President of Chile (d. 1973)
- 1909 – Colonel Tom Parker, Dutch-American talent manager (d. 1997)
- 1909 – Wolfgang Reitherman, German-American animator, director, and producer (d. 1985)
- 1911 – Babe Didrikson Zaharias, American golfer and basketball player (d. 1956)
- 1911 – Bronisław Żurakowski, Polish pilot and engineer (d. 2009)
- 1913 – Aimé Césaire, French poet, author, and politician (d. 2008)
- 1913 – Maurice Wilkes, English computer scientist and physicist (d. 2010)
- 1914 – Laurie Lee, English author and poet (d. 1997)
- 1914 – Princess Sophie of Greece and Denmark, European royalty (d. 2001)
- 1915 – Paul Castellano, American gangster (d. 1985)
- 1915 – George Haigh, English professional footballer (d. 2019)
- 1915 – Charlotte Zolotow, American author and poet (d. 2013)
- 1916 – Virginia Satir, American psychotherapist and author (d. 1988)
- 1916 – Giuseppe Taddei, Italian actor and singer (d. 2010)
- 1917 – Idriz Ajeti, Albanian albanologist (d. 2019)
- 1918 – Leo Rosner, Polish-born Austrian Jewish musician (d. 2008)
- 1918 – Raleigh Rhodes, American combat fighter pilot (d. 2007)
- 1918 – J. B. Fuqua, American entrepreneur and philanthropist (d. 2006)
- 1919 – Richard Neustadt, American political scientist and academic (d. 2003)
- 1919 – Jimmy Newberry, American pitcher (d. 1983)
- 1919 – George Athan Billias, American historian (d. 2018)
- 1919 – Donald M. Ashton, English art director (d. 2004)
- 1920 – Jean-Pierre Roy, Canadian-American baseball player, manager, and sportscaster (d. 2014)
- 1921 – Violette Szabo, French-British secret agent (d. 1945)
- 1921 – Robert Everett, American computer scientist (d. 2018)
- 1922 – Walter Farley, American author (d. 1989)
- 1922 – Eleanor Parker, American actress (d. 2013)
- 1922 – Enzo Apicella, English artist, cartoonist, designer, and restaurateur (d. 2018)
- 1923 – Franz-Paul Decker, German conductor (d. 2014)
- 1923 – Ed Bearss, American veteran of World War II
- 1924 – Kostas Axelos, Greek-French philosopher and author (d. 2010)
- 1924 – James W. McCord Jr., CIA officer (d. 2017)
- 1925 – Pavel Belyayev, Russian soldier, pilot, and astronaut (d. 1970)
- 1925 – Wolfgang Unzicker, German chess player (d. 2006)
- 1925 – Jean Frydman, French resistant and businessman
- 1926 – Kenny Baker, American fiddler (d.2011)
- 1926 – Mahendra Bhatnagar, Indian poet
- 1926 – Fernando Mönckeberg Barros, Chilean surgeon
- 1926 – Dinu Zamfirescu, Romanian politician
- 1927 – Robert Kroetsch, Canadian author and poet (d. 2011)
- 1928 – Jacob Druckman, American composer and academic (d. 1996)
- 1928 – Yoshiro Nakamatsu, Japanese inventor
- 1928 – Bill Sheffield, American politician; 5th Governor of Alaska
- 1928 – Samuel Belzberg, Canadian businessman and philanthropist (d. 2018)
- 1929 – June Bronhill, Australian soprano and actress (d. 2005)
- 1929 – Fred Bruemmer, Latvian-Canadian photographer and author (d. 2013)
- 1929 – Milton Glaser, American illustrator and graphic designer
- 1930 – Jackie Fargo, American wrestler and trainer (d. 2013)
- 1930 – Wolfgang Schwanitz, East German secret police
- 1931 – Colin Wilson, English philosopher and author (d. 2013)
- 1931 – Robert Colbert, American actor
- 1932 – Dame Marguerite Pindling, Bahamian politician; Governor-General of the Bahamas
- 1932 – Don Valentine, American venture capitalist (d. 2019)
- 1933 – Claudio Abbado, Italian conductor (d. 2014)
- 1933 – Gene Green, American baseball player (d. 1981)
- 1933 – David Winnick, English politician
- 1934 – Dave Grusin, American pianist and composer
- 1934 – Toru Goto, Japanese swimmer
- 1935 – Carlo Facetti, Italian race car driver
- 1935 – Sandro Riminucci, Italian basketball player
- 1935 – Dwight York, American singer
- 1936 – Benjamin Adekunle, Nigerian general (d. 2014)
- 1936 – Hal Greer, American basketball player (d. 2018)
- 1936 – Robert Maclennan, Baron Maclennan of Rogart, Scottish politician (d. 2020)
- 1936 – Edith Pearlman, American short story writer
- 1936 – Jean-Claude Turcotte, Canadian cardinal (d. 2015)
- 1936 – Nancy Willard, American author and poet (d. 2017)
- 1937 – Robert Coleman Richardson, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2013)
- 1937 – Reggie Workman, American bassist and composer
- 1938 – Neil Abercrombie, American sociologist and politician, 7th Governor of Hawaii
- 1938 – Billy Davis Jr., American pop-soul singer
- 1938 – Gerald North, American climatologist and academic
- 1939 – Chuck Robb, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 64th Governor of Virginia
- 1939 – Zainuddin Maidin, Malaysian politician (d. 2018)
- 1941 – Yves Beauchemin, Canadian author and academic
- 1942 – J.J. Dillon, American wrestler and manager
- 1942 – Gilberto Gil, Brazilian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and politician, Brazilian Minister of Culture
- 1943 – Georgie Fame, English singer, pianist, and keyboard player
- 1943 – Warren Farrell, American author and educator
- 1944 – Gennady Zyuganov, Russian colonel and politician
- 1946 – Candace Pert, American neuroscientist and pharmacologist (d. 2013)
- 1949 – Fredric Brandt, American dermatologist and author (d. 2015)
- 1949 – Adrian Gurvitz, English singer-songwriter and producer
- 1949 – Mary Styles Harris, American biologist and geneticist
- 1951 – Gary Gilmour, Australian cricketer and manager (d. 2014)
- 1952 – Gordon McQueen, Scottish footballer and manager
- 1952 – Olive Morris, Jamaican-English civil rights activist (d. 1979)
- 1954 – Luis Arconada, Spanish footballer
- 1955 – Mick Jones, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1955 – Gedde Watanabe, American actor
- 1956 – Chris Isaak, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
- 1956 – Catherine Samba-Panza, interim president of the Central African Republic
- 1956 – Patrick Mercer, English colonel and politician
- 1957 – Al Hunter Ashton, English actor and screenwriter (d. 2007)
- 1957 – Philippe Couillard, Canadian surgeon and politician, 31st Premier of Quebec
- 1957 – Patty Smyth, American singer-songwriter and musician
- 1959 – Mark McKinney, Canadian actor and screenwriter
- 1960 – Mark Durkan, Irish politician
- 1961 – Greg LeMond, American cyclist
- 1961 – Terri Nunn, American singer-songwriter and actress
- 1962 – Jerome Kersey, American basketball player and coach (d. 2015)
- 1963 – Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Russian-Swiss businessman and philanthropist
- 1963 – Mark McClellan, American economist and politician
- 1963 – Harriet Wheeler, English singer-songwriter
- 1964 – Tommi Mäkinen, Finnish race car driver
- 1966 – Dany Boon, French actor, director, and screenwriter
- 1966 – Kirk McLean, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1966 – Jürgen Reil, American drummer
- 1967 – Inha Babakova, Ukrainian high jumper
- 1967 – Olivier Dahan, French director and screenwriter
- 1968 – Guðni Th. Jóhannesson, Icelandic lecturer and politician, 6th President of Iceland
- 1968 – Paolo Maldini, Italian footballer
- 1968 – Shannon Sharpe, American football player and sportscaster
- 1969 – Colin Greenwood, English bass player and songwriter
- 1969 – Ingrid Lempereur, Belgian swimmer
- 1969 – Geir Moen, Norwegian sprinter
- 1969 – Mike Myers, American baseball player
- 1970 – Paul Thomas Anderson, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1970 – Paul Bitok, Kenyan runner
- 1970 – Irv Gotti, American record producer, co-founded Murder Inc Records
- 1970 – Sean Hayes, American actor
- 1970 – Adam Ndlovu, Zimbabwean footballer
- 1970 – Chris O’Donnell, American actor
- 1970 – Nick Offerman, American actor
- 1971 – Max Biaggi, Italian motorcycle racer
- 1972 – Jai Taurima, Australian long jumper and police officer
- 1973 – Gretchen Wilson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1974 – Derek Jeter, American baseball player
- 1974 – Jason Kendall, American baseball player
- 1975 – Chris Armstrong, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1975 – Terry Skiverton, English footballer and manager
- 1976 – Ed Jovanovski, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1976 – Pommie Mbangwa, Zimbabwean cricketer and sportscaster
- 1976 – Chad Pennington, American football player and sportscaster
- 1976 – Dave Rubin, American political commentator
- 1977 – Quincy Lewis, American basketball player
- 1979 – Ryō Fukuda, Japanese race car driver
- 1979 – Walter Herrmann, Argentinian basketball player
- 1979 – Ryan Tedder, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
- 1980 – Hamílton Hênio Ferreira Calheiros, Togolese footballer
- 1980 – Michael Jackson, English footballer
- 1980 – Jason Schwartzman, American singer-songwriter, drummer, and actor
- 1980 – Chris Shelton, American baseball player
- 1980 – Michael Vick, American football player
- 1981 – Natalya Antyukh, Russian sprinter and hurdler
- 1981 – Paolo Cannavaro, Italian footballer
- 1981 – Kanako Kondō, Japanese voice actress and singer
- 1981 – Takashi Toritani, Japanese baseball player
- 1982 – Zuzana Kučová, Slovak tennis player
- 1983 – Vinícius Rodrigues Almeida, Brazilian footballer
- 1983 – Nick Compton, South African-English cricketer
- 1983 – Toyonoshima Daiki, Japanese sumo wrestler
- 1983 – Felipe Melo, Brazilian footballer
- 1983 – Antonio Rosati, Italian footballer
- 1984 – Indila, French singer
- 1984 – José Juan Barea, Puerto Rican-American basketball player
- 1984 – Yankuba Ceesay, Gambian footballer
- 1984 – Elijah Dukes, American baseball player
- 1984 – Raymond Felton, American basketball player
- 1984 – Priscah Jeptoo, Kenyan runner
- 1984 – Jūlija Tepliha, Latvian figure skater
- 1984 – Deron Williams, American basketball player
- 1984 – Preslava, Bulgarian singer
- 1985 – Ogyen Trinley Dorje, Tibetan spiritual leader, 17th Karmapa Lama
- 1986 – Duvier Riascos, Colombian footballer
- 1987 – Carlos Iaconelli, Brazilian race car driver
- 1987 – Samir Nasri, French footballer
- 1988 – Oliver Stang, German footballer
- 1990 – Belaynesh Oljira, Ethiopian runner
- 1990 – Igor Subbotin, Estonian footballer
- 1991 – Houssem Chemali, French footballer
- 1991 – Diego Falcinelli, Italian footballer
- 1991 – Dustin Martin, Australian rules footballer
- 1992 – Joel Campbell, Costa Rican footballer
- 1992 – Rudy Gobert, French basketball player
- 1992 – Jennette McCurdy, American actress and singer-songwriter
- 1993 – Ariana Grande, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress
- 1994 – Hollie Arnold, English javelin thrower
- 1994 – Leonard Carow, German actor
- 1997 – Baek Ye-rin, South Korean singer
- 1997 – Callum Taylor, English cricketer
- 2002 – Chandler Smith, American racing driver
- 2009 – Yesha Camile, Filipino child actress
Deaths on June 26
- 116 BC – Ptolemy VIII, king of Egypt
- 363 – Julian the Apostate, Roman emperor (b. 332)
- 405 – Vigilius, bishop of Trent (b. 353)
- 822 – Saichō, Japanese Buddhist monk (b. 767)
- 969 – George El Mozahem, Egyptian martyr (b. 940)
- 985 – Ramiro III, king of León
- 1090 – Jaromír, bishop of Prague
- 1095 – Robert, bishop of Hereford
- 1265 – Anne of Bohemia, duchess of Silesia (b. 1203 or 1204)
- 1274 – Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, Persian scientist and writer (b. 1201)
- 1487 – John Argyropoulos, Byzantine philosopher and scholar (b. 1415)
- 1541 – Francisco Pizarro, Spanish explorer and politician, Governor of New Castile (b. c. 1471)
- 1574 – Gabriel, comte de Montgomery, captain of the Scottish Guard of Henry II of France (b. 1530)
- 1688 – Ralph Cudworth, English philosopher and academic (b. 1617)
- 1752 – Giulio Alberoni, Spanish cardinal (b. 1664)
- 1757 – Maximilian Ulysses Browne, Austrian field marshal (b. 1705)
- 1784 – Caesar Rodney, American lawyer and politician, 4th Governor of Delaware (b. 1728)
- 1793 – James Dickey, Irish revolutionary (b. 1776)
- 1793 – Gilbert White, English ornithologist and ecologist (b. 1720)
- 1795 – Johannes Jährig, German linguist and translator (b. 1747)
- 1808 – Ludwik Tyszkiewicz, Polish poet and politician (b. 1748)
- 1810 – Joseph-Michel Montgolfier, French inventor, co-invented the hot air balloon (b. 1740)
- 1830 – George IV of the United Kingdom (b. 1762)
- 1836 – Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle, French soldier and composer (b. 1760)
- 1856 – Max Stirner, German philosopher and author (b. 1806)
- 1870 – Armand Barbès, French lawyer and politician (b. 1809)
- 1878 – Mercedes of Orléans (b. 1860)
- 1879 – Richard H. Anderson, American general (b. 1821)
- 1883 – Edward Sabine, Irish-English astronomer, geophysicist, and ornithologist (b. 1788)
- 1918 – Peter Rosegger, Austrian poet and author (b. 1843)
- 1922 – Albert I, Prince of Monaco (b. 1848)
- 1927 – Armand Guillaumin, French painter (b. 1841)
- 1932 – Adelaide Ames, American astronomer and academic (b. 1900)
- 1932 – William Murray McPherson, Australian politician, 31st Premier of Victoria (b. 1865)
- 1938 – James Weldon Johnson, American poet, lawyer and politician (b. 1871)
- 1938 – Daria Pratt, American golfer (b. 1859)
- 1939 – Ford Madox Ford, English novelist, poet, and critic (b. 1873)
- 1943 – Karl Landsteiner, Austrian biologist and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1868)
- 1945 – Emil Hácha, Czech lawyer and politician, 3rd President of Czechoslovakia (b. 1872)
- 1946 – Max Kögel, German SS officer (b. 1895)
- 1946 – Yōsuke Matsuoka, Japanese politician, Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1880)
- 1947 – R. B. Bennett, Canadian lawyer and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1870)
- 1949 – Kim Koo, South Korean educator and politician, 13th President of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea (b. 1876)
- 1955 – Engelbert Zaschka, German engineer (b. 1895)
- 1956 – Clifford Brown, American trumpet player and composer (b. 1930)
- 1956 – Richie Powell, American pianist (b. 1931)
- 1957 – Alfred Döblin, Polish-German physician and author (b. 1878)
- 1957 – Malcolm Lowry, English novelist and poet (b. 1909)
- 1958 – George Orton, Canadian runner and hurdler (b. 1873)
- 1958 – Andrija Štampar, Croatian physician and scholar (b. 1888)
- 1964 – Léo Dandurand, American-Canadian businessman (b. 1889)
- 1967 – Françoise Dorléac, French actress and singer (b. 1942)
- 1975 – Josemaría Escrivá, Spanish priest and saint (b. 1902)
- 1979 – Akwasi Afrifa, Ghanaian soldier and politician, 3rd Head of State of Ghana (b. 1936)
- 1989 – Howard Charles Green, Canadian lawyer and politician, 27th Canadian Minister of Public Works (b. 1895)
- 1990 – Anni Blomqvist, Finnish author (b. 1909)
- 1992 – Buddy Rogers, American wrestler (b. 1921)
- 1993 – Roy Campanella, American baseball player and coach (b. 1921)
- 1993 – William H. Riker, American political scientist and academic (b. 1920)
- 1994 – Jahanara Imam, Bangladeshi author and activist (b. 1929)
- 1996 – Veronica Guerin, Irish journalist (b. 1958)
- 1996 – Necmettin Hacıeminoğlu, Turkish linguist and academic (b. 1932)
- 1997 – Don Hutson, American football player and coach (b. 1913)
- 1998 – Hacı Sabancı, Turkish businessman and philanthropist (b. 1935)
- 2002 – Jay Berwanger, American football player (b. 1914)
- 2002 – Arnold Brown, English-Canadian 11th General of The Salvation Army (b. 1913)
- 2003 – Marc-Vivien Foé, Cameroon footballer (b. 1975)
- 2003 – Denis Thatcher, English soldier and businessman (b. 1915)
- 2003 – Strom Thurmond, American general, lawyer, and politician, 103rd Governor of South Carolina (b. 1902)
- 2004 – Ott Arder, Estonian poet and translator (b. 1950)
- 2004 – Yash Johar, Indian film producer, founded Dharma Productions (b. 1929)
- 2004 – Naomi Shemer, Israeli singer-songwriter (b. 1930)
- 2005 – Tõnno Lepmets, Estonian basketball player (b. 1938)
- 2005 – Richard Whiteley, English journalist and game show host (b. 1943)
- 2006 – Tommy Wonder, Dutch magician (b. 1953)
- 2007 – Liz Claiborne, Belgian-American fashion designer, founded Liz Claiborne (b. 1929)
- 2007 – Joey Sadler, New Zealand rugby player (b. 1914)
- 2010 – Algirdas Brazauskas, Lithuanian engineer and politician, 2nd President of Lithuania (b. 1932)
- 2010 – Harald Keres, Estonian physicist and academic (b. 1912)
- 2011 – Edith Fellows, American actress (b. 1923)
- 2011 – Jan van Beveren, Dutch footballer and coach (b. 1948)
- 2012 – Sverker Åström, Swedish diplomat, Swedish Permanent Representative to the United Nations (b. 1915)
- 2012 – Pat Cummings, American basketball player (b. 1956)
- 2012 – Nora Ephron, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1941)
- 2012 – Mario O’Hara, Filipino director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1944)
- 2012 – Doris Singleton, American actress (b. 1919)
- 2012 – Risley C. Triche, American lawyer and politician (b. 1927)
- 2013 – Henrik Otto Donner, Finnish trumpet player and composer (b. 1939)
- 2013 – Edward Huggins Johnstone, Brazilian-American sergeant and judge (b. 1922)
- 2013 – Byron Looper, American politician (b. 1964)
- 2013 – Justin Miller, American baseball player (b. 1977)
- 2013 – Marc Rich, Belgian-American businessman (b. 1934)
- 2014 – Howard Baker, American lawyer, politician, and diplomat, 12th White House Chief of Staff (b. 1925)
- 2014 – Bill Frank, American-Canadian football player (b. 1938)
- 2014 – Rollin King, American businessman, co-founded Southwest Airlines (b. 1931)
- 2014 – Bob Mischak, American football player and coach (b. 1932)
- 2014 – Julius Rudel, Austrian-American conductor (b. 1921)
- 2014 – Mary Rodgers, American composer and author (b. 1931)
- 2015 – Yevgeny Primakov, Ukrainian-Russian journalist and politician, 32nd Prime Minister of Russia (b. 1929)
- 2015 – Chris Thompson, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1952)
Holidays and observances on June 26
- Day of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan
- Christian feast day:
- Anthelm of Belley
- David the Dendrite
- Hermogius
- Isabel Florence Hapgood (Episcopal Church)
- Jeremiah (Lutheran)
- John and Paul
- José María Robles Hurtado (one of Saints of the Cristero War)
- Josemaría Escrivá
- Mar Abhai (Syriac Orthodox Church)
- Pelagius of Córdoba
- Vigilius of Trent
- June 26 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Flag Day (Romania)
- Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Madagascar from France in 1960. (Madagascar)
- Independence Day, celebrates the independence of British Somaliland from the British in 1960. (Somalia)
- International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking (International)
- International Day in Support of Victims of Torture (International)
- Ratcatcher’s Day (Hamelin, Germany)
- Sunthorn Phu Day (Thailand)
- World Refrigeration Day (International)
-
June 25 in History
- 524 – The Franks are defeated by the Burgundians in the Battle of Vézeronce.
- 841 – In the Battle of Fontenay-en-Puisaye, forces led by Charles the Bald and Louis the German defeat the armies of Lothair I of Italy and Pepin II of Aquitaine.
- 1258 – War of Saint Sabas: In the Battle of Acre, the Venetians defeat a larger Genoese fleet sailing to relieve Acre.
- 1530 – At the Diet of Augsburg the Augsburg Confession is presented to the Holy Roman Emperor by the Lutheran princes and Electors of Germany.
- 1658 – Spanish forces fail to retake Jamaica at the Battle of Rio Nuevo during the Anglo-Spanish War.
- 1678 – Venetian Elena Cornaro Piscopia is the first woman awarded a doctorate of philosophy when she graduates from the University of Padua.
- 1741 – Maria Theresa is crowned Queen of Hungary.
- 1786 – Gavriil Pribylov discovers St. George Island of the Pribilof Islands in the Bering Sea.
- 1788 – Virginia becomes the tenth state to ratify the United States Constitution.
- 1848 – A photograph of the June Days uprising becomes the first known instance of photojournalism.
- 1876 – Battle of the Little Bighorn and the death of Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer.
- 1900 – The Taoist monk Wang Yuanlu discovers the Dunhuang manuscripts, a cache of ancient texts that are of great historical and religious significance, in the Mogao Caves of Dunhuang, China.
- 1906 – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania millionaire Harry Thaw shoots and kills prominent architect Stanford White.
- 1910 – The United States Congress passes the Mann Act, which prohibits interstate transport of women or girls for “immoral purposes”; the ambiguous language would be used to selectively prosecute people for years to come.
- 1910 – Igor Stravinsky’s ballet The Firebird is premiered in Paris, bringing him to prominence as a composer.
- 1913 – American Civil War veterans begin arriving at the Great Reunion of 1913.
- 1935 – Colombia–Soviet Union relations are established.
- 1938 – Dr. Douglas Hyde is inaugurated as the first President of Ireland.
- 1940 – World War II: The French armistice with Germany comes into effect.
- 1943 – The Holocaust: Jews in the Częstochowa Ghetto in Poland stage an uprising against the Nazis.
- 1943 – The left-wing German Jewish exile Arthur Goldstein is murdered in Auschwitz.
- 1944 – World War II: The Battle of Tali-Ihantala, the largest battle ever fought in the Nordic countries, begins.
- 1944 – World War II: United States Navy and British Royal Navy ships bombard Cherbourg to support United States Army units engaged in the Battle of Cherbourg.
- 1944 – The final page of the comic Krazy Kat is published, exactly two months after its author George Herriman died.
- 1947 – The Diary of a Young Girl (better known as The Diary of Anne Frank) is published.
- 1950 – The Korean War begins with the invasion of South Korea by North Korea.
- 1960 – Cold War: Two cryptographers working for the United States National Security Agency left for vacation to Mexico, and from there defected to the Soviet Union.
- 1975 – Mozambique achieves independence from Portugal.
- 1975 – Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declares a state of internal emergency in India.
- 1976 – Missouri Governor Kit Bond issues an executive order rescinding the Extermination Order, formally apologizing on behalf of the state of Missouri for the suffering it had caused to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
- 1978 – The rainbow flag representing gay pride is flown for the first time during the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade.
- 1981 – Microsoft is restructured to become an incorporated business in its home state of Washington.
- 1991 – Slovenia and Croatia declare their independence by referendum from Yugoslavia.
- 1993 – Kim Campbell is sworn in as the first female Prime Minister of Canada.
- 1996 – The Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia kills 19 U.S. servicemen.
- 1997 – An unmanned Progress spacecraft collides with the Russian space station Mir.
- 1997 – The National Hockey League approved expansion franchises for Nashville (1998), Atlanta (1999), Columbus (2000), and Minneapolis-Saint Paul (2000).
- 1998 – In Clinton v. City of New York, the United States Supreme Court decides that the Line Item Veto Act of 1996 is unconstitutional.
- 2017 – The World Health Organization estimates that Yemen has over 200,000 cases of cholera.
Births on June 25
- 1242 – Beatrice of England (d. 1275)
- 1328 – William de Montagu, 2nd Earl of Salisbury, English commander (d. 1397)
- 1371 – Joanna II of Naples (d. 1435)
- 1484 – Bartholomeus V. Welser, German banker (d. 1561)
- 1526 – Elisabeth Parr, Marchioness of Northampton (d. 1565)
- 1560 – Wilhelm Fabry, German surgeon (d. 1634)
- 1568 – Gunilla Bielke, Queen of Sweden (d. 1597)
- 1612 – John Albert Vasa, Polish cardinal (d. 1634)
- 1709 – Francesco Araja, Italian composer (d. 1762)
- 1715 – Joseph Foullon de Doué, French soldier and politician, Controller-General of Finances (d. 1789)
- 1755 – Natalia Alexeievna of Russia (d. 1776)
- 1799 – David Douglas, Scottish-English botanist and explorer (d. 1834)
- 1814 – Gabriel Auguste Daubrée, French geologist and engineer (d. 1896)
- 1825 – James Farnell, Australian politician, 8th Premier of New South Wales (d. 1888)
- 1852 – Antoni Gaudí, Spanish architect, designed the Park Güell (d. 1926)
- 1858 – Georges Courteline, French author and playwright (d. 1929)
- 1860 – Gustave Charpentier, French composer and conductor (d. 1956)
- 1863 – Émile Francqui, Belgian soldier and diplomat (d. 1935)
- 1864 – Walther Nernst, German chemist and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1941)
- 1866 – Eloísa Díaz, Chilean doctor and Chile’s first female physician (d. 1950)
- 1874 – Rose O’Neill, American cartoonist, illustrator, artist, and writer (d. 1944)
- 1884 – Géza Gyóni, Hungarian soldier and poet (d. 1917)
- 1884 – Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, German-French art collector and historian (d. 1979)
- 1886 – Henry H. Arnold, American general (d. 1950)
- 1887 – George Abbott, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1995)
- 1887 – Frigyes Karinthy, Hungarian author, poet, and journalist (d. 1938)
- 1892 – Shirō Ishii, Japanese microbiologist and general (d. 1959)
- 1894 – Hermann Oberth, Romanian-German physicist and engineer (d. 1989)
- 1898 – Kay Sage, American painter and poet (d. 1963)
- 1900 – Marta Abba, Italian actress (d. 1988)
- 1900 – Zinaida Aksentyeva, Ukrainian/Soviet astronomer (d. 1969)
- 1900 – Georgia Hale, American silent film actress and real estate investor (d. 1985)
- 1900 – Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, English admiral and politician, 44th Governor-General of India (d. 1979)
- 1901 – Harold Roe Bartle, American businessman and politician, 47th Mayor of Kansas City (d. 1974)
- 1902 – Yasuhito, Prince Chichibu of Japan (d. 1953)
- 1903 – George Orwell, British novelist, essayist, and critic (d. 1950)
- 1903 – Anne Revere, American actress (d. 1990)
- 1905 – Rupert Wildt, German-American astronomer and academic (d. 1976)
- 1907 – J. Hans D. Jensen, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1973)
- 1908 – Willard Van Orman Quine, American philosopher and academic (d. 2000)
- 1911 – William Howard Stein, American chemist and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1980)
- 1912 – William T. Cahill, American lawyer and politician, 46th Governor of New Jersey (d. 1996)
- 1913 – Cyril Fletcher, English actor and screenwriter (d. 2005)
- 1915 – Whipper Billy Watson, Canadian-American wrestler and trainer (d. 1990)
- 1917 – Nils Karlsson, Swedish skier (d. 2012)
- 1917 – Claude Seignolle, French author (d. 2018)
- 1918 – P. H. Newby, English soldier and author (d. 1997)
- 1920 – Lassie Lou Ahern, American actress (d. 2018)
- 1921 – Celia Franca, English-Canadian ballerina and choreographer, founded the National Ballet of Canada (d. 2007)
- 1922 – Johnny Smith, American guitarist and songwriter (d. 2013)
- 1923 – Sam Francis, American soldier and painter (d. 1994)
- 1923 – Dorothy Gilman, American author (d. 2012)
- 1923 – Jamshid Amouzegar, 43rd Prime Minister of Iran (d. 2016)
- 1924 – Sidney Lumet, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2011)
- 1924 – Dimitar Isakov, Bulgarian football player
- 1924 – Madan Mohan, Iraqi-Indian composer and director (d. 1975)
- 1924 – William J. Castagna, American lawyer and judge
- 1925 – Clifton Chenier, American singer-songwriter and accordion player (d. 1987)
- 1925 – June Lockhart, American actress
- 1925 – Clay Evans, American Baptist pastor (d. 2019)
- 1925 – Robert Venturi, American architect and academic (d. 2018)
- 1925 – Virginia Patton, American actress and businesswoman
- 1926 – Margaret Anstee, English diplomat (d. 2016)
- 1926 – Ingeborg Bachmann, Austrian author and poet (d. 1973)
- 1926 – Kep Enderby, Australian lawyer, judge, and politician, 23rd Attorney-General for Australia (d. 2015)
- 1926 – Stig Sollander, Swedish Alpine skier (d. 2019)
- 1927 – Antal Róka, Hungarian runner (d. 1970)
- 1927 – Chuck Smith, American pastor, founded the Calvary Chapel (d. 2013)
- 1927 – Arnold Wolfendale, English astronomer and academic
- 1928 – Alexei Alexeyevich Abrikosov, Russian-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2017)
- 1928 – John A. Wickham Jr., United States Army general
- 1928 – Michel Brault, Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2013)
- 1928 – Peyo, Belgian author and illustrator, created The Smurfs (d. 1992)
- 1928 – Bill Russo, American pianist and composer (d. 2003)
- 1928 – Alex Toth, American animator and screenwriter (d. 2006)
- 1929 – Eric Carle, American author and illustrator
- 1929 – Francesco Marchisano, Italian cardinal (d. 2014)
- 1931 – V. P. Singh, Indian lawyer and politician, 7th Prime Minister of India (d. 2008)
- 1932 – Peter Blake, English painter and illustrator
- 1932 – Tim Parnell, English race car driver (d. 2017)
- 1932 – George Sluizer, French-Dutch director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2014)
- 1933 – Álvaro Siza Vieira, Portuguese architect, designed the Porto School of Architecture
- 1934 – Jean Geissinger, American baseball player (d. 2014)
- 1934 – Jack W. Hayford, American minister and author
- 1934 – Beatriz Sheridan, Mexican actress and director (d. 2006)
- 1935 – Ray Butt, English television producer and director (d. 2013)
- 1935 – Salihu Ibrahim, Nigerian Army Officer (d. 2018)
- 1935 – Taufiq Ismail, Indonesian poet and activist
- 1935 – Larry Kramer, American author, playwright, and activist, co-founded Gay Men’s Health Crisis (d. 2020)
- 1935 – Don Demeter, American professional baseball player
- 1935 – Tony Lanfranchi, English race car driver (d. 2004)
- 1935 – Judy Howe, American artistic gymnast
- 1935 – Charles Sheffield, English-American mathematician, physicist, and author (d. 2002)
- 1936 – B. J. Habibie, Indonesian engineer and politician, 3rd President of Indonesia (d. 2019)
- 1936 – Bert Hölldobler, German biologist and entomologist
- 1937 – Eddie Floyd, American R&B/soul singer-songwriter
- 1937 – Derek Foster, Baron Foster of Bishop Auckland, English politician (d. 2019)
- 1937 – Doreen Wells, English ballerina and actress
- 1939 – Allen Fox, American tennis player and coach
- 1940 – Judy Amoore, Australian runner
- 1940 – Mary Beth Peil, American actress and singer
- 1940 – A. J. Quinnell, English-Maltese author (d. 2005)
- 1940 – Clint Warwick, English bass player (d. 2004)
- 1941 – Denys Arcand, Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1941 – John Albert Raven, Scottish academic and ecologist
- 1942 – Nikiforos Diamandouros, Greek academic and politician
- 1942 – Willis Reed, American basketball player, coach, and manager
- 1942 – Michel Tremblay, Canadian author and playwright
- 1944 – Robert Charlebois, Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
- 1944 – Gary David Goldberg, American screenwriter and producer (d. 2013)
- 1945 – Carly Simon, American singer-songwriter
- 1945 – Baba Gana Kingibe, Nigerian politician
- 1945 – Harry Womack, American singer (d. 1974)
- 1946 – Roméo Dallaire, Dutch-Canadian general and politician
- 1946 – Allen Lanier, American guitarist and songwriter (d. 2013)
- 1946 – Ian McDonald, English guitarist and saxophonist
- 1947 – John Hilton, English table tennis player
- 1947 – John Powell, American discus thrower
- 1947 – Jimmie Walker, American actor and comedian
- 1949 – Richard Clarke, Irish archbishop
- 1949 – Patrick Tambay, French race car driver
- 1949 – Yoon Joo-sang, South Korean actor
- 1950 – Marcello Toninelli, Italian author and screenwriter
- 1951 – Eva Bayer-Fluckiger, Swiss mathematician and academic
- 1952 – Péter Erdő, Hungarian cardinal
- 1952 – Tim Finn, New Zealand singer-songwriter
- 1952 – Martin Gerschwitz, German singer-songwriter and keyboard player
- 1952 – Alan Green, Northern Irish sportscaster
- 1952 – Kristina Abelli Elander, Swedish artist
- 1953 – Olivier Ameisen, French-American cardiologist and educator (d. 2013)
- 1953 – Ian Davis, Australian cricketer
- 1954 – Mario Lessard, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1954 – David Paich, American singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer
- 1954 – Lina Romay, Spanish actress (d. 2012)
- 1954 – Daryush Shokof, Iranian director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1954 – Sonia Sotomayor, American lawyer and judge
- 1955 – Vic Marks, English cricketer and sportscaster
- 1956 – Anthony Bourdain, American chef and author (d. 2018)
- 1956 – Frank Paschek, German long jumper
- 1956 – Boris Trajkovski, Macedonian politician, 2nd President of the Republic of Macedonia (d. 2004)
- 1956 – Craig Young, Australian rugby player and coach
- 1957 – Greg Millen, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
- 1958 – George Becali, Romanian businessman, politician
- 1959 – Lutz Dombrowski, German long jumper and educator
- 1959 – Jari Puikkonen, Finnish ski jumper
- 1959 – Bobbie Vaile, Australian astrophysicist and astronomer (d. 1996)
- 1960 – Alastair Bruce of Crionaich, English-Scottish journalist and author
- 1960 – Brian Hayward, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
- 1960 – Craig Johnston, South African-Australian footballer and photographer
- 1960 – Laurent Rodriguez, French rugby player
- 1961 – Timur Bekmambetov, Kazakh director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1961 – Ricky Gervais, English comedian, actor, director, producer and singer
- 1963 – John Benjamin Hickey, American actor
- 1963 – Yann Martel, Spanish-Canadian author
- 1963 – Doug Gilmour, Canadian ice hockey player and manager
- 1963 – George Michael, English singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2016)
- 1963 – Mike Stanley, American baseball player
- 1964 – Dell Curry, American basketball player and coach
- 1964 – Phil Emery, Australian cricketer
- 1964 – Johnny Herbert, English race car driver and sportscaster
- 1964 – John McCrea, American singer-songwriter and musician
- 1964 – Greg Raymer, American poker player and lawyer
- 1965 – Napole Polutele, French politician
- 1965 – Kerri Pottharst, Australian beach volleyball player
- 1965 – Joseph Hii Teck Kwong, Malaysian bishop
- 1966 – Dikembe Mutombo, Congolese-American basketball player
- 1967 – Tracey Spicer, Australian journalist
- 1968 – Adrian Garvey, Zimbabwean-South African rugby player
- 1968 – Vaios Karagiannis, Greek footballer and manager
- 1969 – Hunter Foster, American actor and singer
- 1969 – Zim Zum, American guitarist and songwriter
- 1970 – Ariel Gore, American journalist and author
- 1970 – Roope Latvala, Finnish guitarist
- 1970 – Erki Nool, Estonian decathlete and politician
- 1970 – Aaron Sele, American baseball player and scout
- 1971 – Karen Darke, English cyclist and author
- 1971 – Jason Gallian, Australian-English cricketer and educator
- 1971 – Rod Kafer, Australian rugby player and sportscaster
- 1971 – Neil Lennon, Northern Irish-Scottish footballer and manager
- 1971 – Michael Tucker, American baseball player
- 1972 – Carlos Delgado, Puerto Rican-American baseball player and coach
- 1972 – Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, Libyan engineer and politician
- 1973 – René Corbet, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1973 – Milan Hnilička, Czech ice hockey player
- 1973 – Jamie Redknapp, English footballer and coach
- 1974 – Nisha Ganatra, Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1974 – Glen Metropolit, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1975 – Kiur Aarma, Estonian journalist and producer
- 1975 – Linda Cardellini, American actress
- 1975 – Albert Costa, Spanish tennis player and coach
- 1975 – Vladimir Kramnik, Russian chess player
- 1975 – Michele Merkin, American model and television host
- 1976 – José Cancela, Uruguayan footballer
- 1976 – Iestyn Harris, Welsh rugby player and coach
- 1976 – Carlos Nieto, Argentinian-Italian rugby player
- 1976 – Neil Walker, American swimmer
- 1978 – Aramis Ramírez, Dominican-American baseball player
- 1978 – Luke Scott, American baseball player
- 1978 – Marcus Stroud, American football player
- 1979 – Marko Albert, Estonian swimmer and triathlete
- 1979 – Richard Hughes, Scottish footballer
- 1979 – Busy Philipps, American actress
- 1981 – Simon Ammann, Swiss ski jumper
- 1982 – Rain, South Korean singer and actor
- 1982 – Mikhail Youzhny, Russian tennis player
- 1983 – Todd Cooper, English swimmer
- 1983 – Marc Janko, Austrian footballer
- 1984 – Lauren Bush, American model and fashion designer
- 1985 – Karim Matmour, Algerian footballer
- 1986 – Aya Matsuura, Japanese singer and actress
- 1986 – Seda Tokatlıoğlu, Turkish volleyball player
- 1988 – Jhonas Enroth, Swedish ice hockey player
- 1988 – Miguel Layún, Mexican footballer
- 1988 – Therese Johaug, Norwegian cross-country skier
- 1989 – Jack Cork, English footballer
- 1989 – Edgar Morais, Portuguese actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1989 – Rafael Morais, Portuguese actor, director, and screenwriter
- 1990 – Andi Eigenmann, Filipino actress
- 1991 – Liisi Rist, Estonian cyclist
- 1991 – Anna Zaja, German tennis player
- 1996 – Pietro Fittipaldi, Brazilian-American race car driver
- 1996 – Sione Mata’utia, Australian rugby league player
- 1996 – Lele Pons, Latina-American Internet personality
- 1998 – Kyle Chalmers, Australian swimmer
- 2006 – Mckenna Grace, American actress
Deaths on June 25
- 635 – Gao Zu, Chinese emperor (b. 566)
- 841 – Gerard of Auvergne, Frankish nobleman
- 841 – Ricwin of Nantes, Frankish nobleman
- 891 – Sunderolt, German archbishop
- 931 – An Chonghui, Chinese general
- 1014 – Æthelstan Ætheling, son of Æthelred the Unready
- 1031 – Sheng Zong, Chinese emperor (b. 972)
- 1134 – Niels, king of Denmark (b. 1065)
- 1218 – Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester, French politician, Lord High Steward (b. 1160)
- 1291 – Eleanor of Provence, queen of England (b. 1223)
- 1337 – Frederick III, king of Sicily (b. 1272)
- 1394 – Dorothea of Montau, German hermitess (b. 1347)
- 1483 – Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers, English courtier and translator (b. 1440)
- 1483 – Richard Grey, half brother of Edward V of England (b. 1458)
- 1522 – Franchinus Gaffurius, Italian composer and theorist (b. 1451)
- 1533 – Mary Tudor, queen of France (b. 1496)
- 1579 – Hatano Hideharu, Japanese warlord (b. 1541)
- 1593 – Michele Mercati, Italian physician and archaeologist (b. 1541)
- 1634 – John Marston, English poet and playwright (b. 1576)
- 1638 – Juan Pérez de Montalbán, Spanish author, poet, and playwright (b. 1602)
- 1665 – Sigismund Francis, archduke of Austria (b. 1630)
- 1669 – François de Vendôme, duke of Beaufort (b. 1616)
- 1671 – Giovanni Battista Riccioli, Italian priest and astronomer (b. 1598)
- 1673 – Charles de Batz-Castelmore d’Artagnan, French captain (b. 1611)
- 1686 – Simon Ushakov, Russian painter and educator (b. 1626)
- 1715 – Jean-Baptiste du Casse, French admiral and politician (b. 1646)
- 1767 – Georg Philipp Telemann, German composer and theorist (b. 1681)
- 1798 – Thomas Sandby, English cartographer, painter, and architect (b. 1721)
- 1822 – E. T. A. Hoffmann, German composer, critic, and jurist (b. 1776)
- 1835 – Ebenezer Pemberton, American educator (b. 1746)
- 1838 – François-Nicolas-Benoît Haxo, French general and engineer (b. 1774)
- 1861 – Abdülmecid I, Ottoman sultan (b. 1823)
- 1866 – Alexander von Nordmann, Finnish biologist and paleontologist (b. 1803)
- 1868 – Carlo Matteucci, Italian physicist and neurophysiologist (b. 1811)
- 1870 – David Heaton, American lawyer and politician (b. 1823)
- 1875 – Antoine-Louis Barye, French sculptor (b. 1796)
- 1876 – James Calhoun, American lieutenant (b. 1845)
- 1876 – Boston Custer, American civilian army contractor (b. 1848)
- 1876 – George Armstrong Custer, American general (b. 1839)
- 1876 – Thomas Custer, American officer, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1845)
- 1876 – Myles Keogh, Irish-American officer (b. 1840)
- 1882 – François Jouffroy, French sculptor (b. 1806)
- 1884 – Hans Rott, Austrian organist and composer (b. 1858)
- 1886 – Jean-Louis Beaudry, Canadian businessman and politician, 11th Mayor of Montreal (b. 1809)
- 1894 – Marie François Sadi Carnot, French engineer and politician, 5th President of France (b. 1837)
- 1906 – Stanford White, American architect, designed the Washington Square Arch (b. 1853)
- 1912 – Lawrence Alma-Tadema, Dutch-British painter (b. 1836)
- 1916 – Thomas Eakins, American painter, photographer, and sculptor (b. 1844)
- 1917 – Géza Gyóni, Hungarian soldier and poet (b. 1884)
- 1918 – Jake Beckley, American baseball player and coach (b. 1867)
- 1922 – Satyendranath Dutta, Indian poet and author (b. 1882)
- 1937 – Colin Clive, British actor (b. 1900)
- 1939 – Richard Seaman, English race car driver (b. 1913)
- 1943 – Arthur Goldstein, German Jewish left-wing activist (c. 1887)
- 1944 – Dénes Berinkey, Hungarian jurist and politician, 18th Prime Minister of Hungary (b. 1871)
- 1944 – Lucha Reyes, Mexican singer and actress (b. 1906)
- 1947 – Jimmy Doyle, American boxer (b. 1924)
- 1948 – William C. Lee, American general (b. 1895)
- 1949 – Buck Freeman, American baseball player (b. 1871)
- 1949 – James Steen, American water polo player (b. 1876)
- 1950 – Maurice O’Sullivan, Irish police officer and author (b. 1904)
- 1958 – Alfred Noyes, English author, poet, and playwright (b. 1880)
- 1959 – Charles Starkweather, American spree killer (b. 1938)
- 1960 – Tommy Corcoran, American baseball player and manager (b. 1869)
- 1968 – Tony Hancock, English comedian and actor (b. 1924)
- 1971 – John Boyd Orr, 1st Baron Boyd-Orr, Scottish physician, biologist, and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1880)
- 1972 – Jan Matulka, Czech-American painter and illustrator (b. 1890)
- 1974 – Cornelius Lanczos, Hungarian mathematician and physicist (b. 1893)
- 1976 – Johnny Mercer, American singer-songwriter, co-founded Capitol Records (b. 1909)
- 1977 – Olave Baden-Powell, British Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting leader (b. 1889)
- 1977 – Endre Szervánszky, Hungarian pianist and composer (b. 1911)
- 1979 – Dave Fleischer, American animator, director, and producer (b. 1894)
- 1979 – Philippe Halsman, Latvian-American photographer (b. 1906)
- 1981 – Felipe Cossío del Pomar, Peruvian painter and political activist (b. 1888)
- 1983 – Alberto Ginastera, Argentinian pianist and composer (b. 1916)
- 1984 – Michel Foucault, French historian and philosopher (b. 1926)
- 1988 – Hillel Slovak, Israeli-American guitarist and songwriter (b. 1962)
- 1990 – Ronald Gene Simmons, American sergeant and murderer (b. 1940)
- 1992 – Jerome Brown, American football player (b. 1965)
- 1995 – Warren E. Burger, Fifteenth Chief Justice of the United States (b. 1907)
- 1995 – Ernest Walton, Irish physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1903)
- 1996 – Arthur Snelling, English civil servant and diplomat, British Ambassador to South Africa (b. 1914)
- 1997 – Jacques Cousteau, French oceanographer and explorer (b. 1910)
- 2002 – Jean Corbeil, Canadian politician, 29th Canadian Minister of Labour (b. 1934)
- 2003 – Lester Maddox, American businessman and politician, 75th Governor of Georgia (b. 1915)
- 2004 – Morton Coutts, New Zealand inventor (b. 1904)
- 2005 – John Fiedler, American actor and voice artist (b. 1925)
- 2005 – Kâzım Koyuncu, Turkish singer-songwriter and activist (b. 1971)
- 2006 – Jaap Penraat, Dutch-American humanitarian (b. 1918)
- 2007 – J. Fred Duckett, American journalist and educator (b. 1933)
- 2007 – Jeeva, Indian director, cinematographer, and screenwriter (b. 1963)
- 2008 – Lyall Watson, South African anthropologist and ethologist (b. 1939)
- 2009 – Farrah Fawcett, American actress and producer (b. 1947)
- 2009 – Michael Jackson, American singer-songwriter, producer, dancer, and actor (b. 1958)
- 2009 – Sky Saxon, American singer-songwriter (b. 1937)
- 2010 – Alan Plater, English playwright and screenwriter (b. 1935)
- 2010 – Richard B. Sellars, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1915)
- 2011 – Annie Easley, American computer scientist and mathematician (b. 1933)
- 2011 – Goff Richards, English composer and conductor (b. 1944)
- 2011 – Margaret Tyzack, English actress (b. 1931)
- 2012 – Shigemitsu Dandō, Japanese academic and jurist (b. 1913)
- 2012 – Campbell Gillies, Scottish jockey (b. 1990)
- 2012 – George Randolph Hearst, Jr., American businessman (b. 1927)
- 2012 – Lucella MacLean, American baseball player (b. 1921)
- 2012 – Edgar Ross, American boxer (b. 1949)
- 2013 – George Burditt, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1923)
- 2013 – Catherine Gibson, Scottish swimmer (b. 1931)
- 2013 – Robert E. Gilka, American photographer and journalist (b. 1916)
- 2013 – Harry Parker, American rower and coach (b. 1935)
- 2013 – Mildred Ladner Thompson, American journalist (b. 1918)
- 2013 – Green Wix Unthank, American soldier and judge (b. 1923)
- 2014 – Nigel Calder, English journalist, author, and screenwriter (b. 1931)
- 2014 – Ana María Matute, Spanish author and academic (b. 1925)
- 2014 – Ivan Plyushch, Ukrainian agronomist and politician (b. 1941)
- 2015 – Patrick Macnee, English actor (b. 1922)
- 2015 – Nerses Bedros XIX Tarmouni, Egyptian-Armenian patriarch (b. 1940)
- 2016 – Adam Small, South African writer of apartheid-period (b. 1936)
- 2018 – Richard Benjamin Harrison, American businessman and reality television personality (b. 1941)
- 2018 – David Goldblatt, South African photographer of apartheid-period (b. 1930)
Holidays and observances on June 25
- Arbor Day (Philippines)
- Christian feast day:
- David of Munktorp
- Eurosia
- Maximus (Massimo) of Turin
- Philipp Melanchthon (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America)
- Presentation of the Augsburg Confession (Lutheran)
- Prosper of Aquitaine
- Prosper of Reggio
- William of Montevergine
- June 25 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Mozambique from Portugal in 1975.
- National Catfish Day (United States)
- Statehood Day (Slovenia)
- Statehood Day (Virginia)
- Teacher’s Day (Guatemala)
- World Vitiligo Day
-
June 14 in History
- 1158 – Munich is founded by Henry the Lion on the banks of the river Isar.
- 1216 – First Barons’ War: Prince Louis of France captures the city of Winchester and soon conquers over half of the Kingdom of England.
- 1276 – While taking exile in Fuzhou, away from the advancing Mongol invaders, the remnants of the Song dynasty court hold the coronation ceremony for Emperor Duanzong.
- 1285 – Second Mongol invasion of Vietnam: Forces led by Prince Trần Quang Khải of the Trần dynasty destroy most of the invading Mongol naval fleet in a battle at Chuong Duong.
- 1287 – Kublai Khan defeats the force of Nayan and other traditionalist Borjigin princes in East Mongolia and Manchuria.
- 1381 – Richard II of England meets leaders of Peasants’ Revolt at Mile End. The Tower of London is stormed by rebels who enter without resistance.
- 1404 – Welsh rebel leader Owain Glyndŵr, having declared himself Prince of Wales, allies himself with the French against King Henry IV of England.
- 1618 – Joris Veseler prints the first Dutch newspaper Courante uyt Italien, Duytslandt, &c. in Amsterdam (approximate date).
- 1645 – English Civil War: Battle of Naseby: Twelve thousand Royalist forces are beaten by 15,000 Parliamentarian soldiers.
- 1667 – The Raid on the Medway by the Dutch fleet in the Second Anglo-Dutch War ends. It had lasted for five days and resulted in the worst ever defeat of the Royal Navy.
- 1690 – King William III of England (William of Orange) lands in Ireland to confront the former King James II.
- 1775 – American Revolutionary War: the Continental Army is established by the Continental Congress, marking the birth of the United States Army.
- 1777 – The Second Continental Congress passes the Flag Act of 1777 adopting the Stars and Stripes as the Flag of the United States.
- 1789 – Mutiny on the Bounty: HMS Bounty mutiny survivors including Captain William Bligh and 18 others reach Timor after a nearly 7,400 km (4,600 mi) journey in an open boat.
- 1800 – The French Army of First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte defeats the Austrians at the Battle of Marengo in Northern Italy and re-conquers Italy.
- 1807 – Emperor Napoleon’s French Grande Armée defeats the Russian Army at the Battle of Friedland in Poland (modern Russian Kaliningrad Oblast) ending the War of the Fourth Coalition.
- 1821 – Badi VII, king of Sennar, surrenders his throne and realm to Ismail Pasha, general of the Ottoman Empire, bringing the 300 year old Sudanese kingdom to an end.
- 1822 – Charles Babbage proposes a difference engine in a paper to the Royal Astronomical Society.
- 1830 – Beginning of the French colonization of Algeria: Thirty-four thousand French soldiers begin their invasion of Algiers, landing 27 kilometers west at Sidi Fredj.
- 1839 – Henley Royal Regatta: the village of Henley-on-Thames, on the River Thames in Oxfordshire, stages its first regatta.
- 1846 – Bear Flag Revolt begins: Anglo settlers in Sonoma, California, start a rebellion against Mexico and proclaim the California Republic.
- 1863 – American Civil War: Second Battle of Winchester: A Union garrison is defeated by the Army of Northern Virginia in the Shenandoah Valley town of Winchester, Virginia.
- 1863 – Second Assault on the Confederate works at the Siege of Port Hudson during the American Civil War.
- 1872 – Trade unions are legalized in Canada.
- 1881 – The White Rajahs territories become the British protectorate of Sarawak.
- 1900 – Hawaii becomes a United States territory.
- 1900 – The second German Naval Law calls for the Imperial German Navy to be doubled in size.
- 1907 – The National Association for Women’s Suffrage succeeds in getting Norwegian women the right to vote in parliamentary elections.
- 1919 – John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown depart from St. John’s, Newfoundland on the first nonstop transatlantic flight.
- 1926 – Brazil leaves the League of Nations.
- 1937 – Pennsylvania becomes the first (and only) state of the United States to celebrate Flag Day officially as a state holiday.
- 1937 – U.S. House of Representatives passes the Marihuana Tax Act.
- 1940 – World War II: The German occupation of Paris begins.
- 1940 – The Soviet Union presents an ultimatum to Lithuania resulting in Lithuanian loss of independence.
- 1940 – Seven hundred twenty-eight Polish political prisoners from Tarnów become the first inmates of the Auschwitz concentration camp.
- 1941 – June deportation: the first major wave of Soviet mass deportations and murder of Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians, begins.
- 1944 – World War II: After several failed attempts, the British Army abandons Operation Perch, its plan to capture the German-occupied town of Caen.
- 1945 – World War II: Filipino troops of the Philippine Commonwealth Army liberate the captured in Ilocos Sur and start the Battle of Bessang Pass in Northern Luzon.
- 1949 – Albert II, a rhesus monkey, rides a V-2 rocket to an altitude of 134 km (83 mi), thereby becoming the first monkey in space.
- 1951 – UNIVAC I is dedicated by the U.S. Census Bureau.
- 1954 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs a bill into law that places the words “under God” into the United States Pledge of Allegiance.
- 1955 – Chile becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
- 1959 – Disneyland Monorail System, the first daily operating monorail system in the Western Hemisphere, opens to the public in Anaheim, California.
- 1959 – Dominican exiles depart from Cuba and land in the Dominican Republic to overthrow the totalitarian government of Rafael Trujillo. All but four are killed or executed.
- 1962 – The European Space Research Organisation is established in Paris – later becoming the European Space Agency.
- 1966 – The Vatican announces the abolition of the Index Librorum Prohibitorum (“index of prohibited books”), which was originally instituted in 1557.
- 1967 – Mariner program: Mariner 5 is launched towards Venus.
- 1982 – Falklands War: Argentine forces in the capital Stanley conditionally surrender to British forces.
- 1986 – The Mindbender derails and kills three riders at the Fantasyland (known today as Galaxyland) indoor amusement park in Edmonton, Alberta.
- 1994 – The 1994 Vancouver Stanley Cup riot occurs after the New York Rangers win the Stanley Cup from Vancouver, causing an estimated C$1.1 million, leading to 200 arrests and injuries.
- 2002 – Near-Earth asteroid 2002 MN misses the Earth by 75,000 miles (121,000 km), about one-third of the distance between the Earth and the Moon.
- 2014 – A Ukraine military Ilyushin Il-76 airlifter is shot down, killing all 49 people on board.
- 2017 – London: A fire in a high-rise apartment building in North Kensington leaves 72 people dead and another 74 injured.
- 2017 – In Alexandria, Virginia, Republican member of Congress and House Majority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana is shot while practicing for charity baseball.
Births on June 14
- 1444 – Nilakantha Somayaji, Indian astronomer and mathematician (d. 1544)
- 1463 – Henry IV, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (d. 1514)
- 1479 – Giglio Gregorio Giraldi, Italian poet and scholar (d. 1552)
- 1529 – Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria (d. 1595)
- 1627 – Johann Abraham Ihle, German astronomer (d. 1699)
- 1691 – Jan Francisci, Slovak organist and composer (d. 1758)
- 1726 – Thomas Pennant, Welsh ornithologist and historian (d. 1798)
- 1730 – Antonio Sacchini, Italian composer and educator (d. 1786)
- 1736 – Charles-Augustin de Coulomb, French physicist and engineer (d. 1806)
- 1763 – Simon Mayr, German composer and educator (d. 1845)
- 1780 – Henry Salt, English historian and diplomat, British Consul-General in Egypt (d. 1827)
- 1796 – Nikolai Brashman, Czech-Russian mathematician and academic (d. 1866)
- 1798 – František Palacký, Czech historian and politician (d. 1876)
- 1801 – Heber C. Kimball, American religious leader (d. 1868)
- 1811 – Harriet Beecher Stowe, American author and activist (d. 1896)
- 1812 – Fernando Wood, American merchant and politician, 73rd Mayor of New York City (d. 1881)
- 1819 – Henry Gardner, American merchant and politician, 23rd Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1892)
- 1820 – John Bartlett, American author and publisher (d. 1905)
- 1829 – Bernard Petitjean, French Roman Catholic missionary to Japan (d. 1884)
- 1838 – Yamagata Aritomo, Japanese Field Marshal and politician, 3rd and 9th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1922)
- 1840 – William F. Nast, American businessman (d. 1893)
- 1848 – Bernard Bosanquet, English philosopher and theorist (d. 1923)
- 1848 – Max Erdmannsdörfer, German conductor and composer (d. 1905)
- 1855 – Robert M. La Follette, American lawyer and politician, 20th Governor of Wisconsin (d. 1925)
- 1856 – Andrey Markov, Russian mathematician and theorist (d. 1922)
- 1862 – John Ulric Nef, Swiss-American chemist and academic (d. 1915)
- 1864 – Alois Alzheimer, German psychiatrist and neuropathologist (d. 1915)
- 1868 – Karl Landsteiner, Austrian biologist and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1943)
- 1868 – Anna B. Eckstein, German peace activist (d. 1947)
- 1870 – Sophia of Prussia (d. 1932)
- 1871 – Hermanus Brockmann, Dutch rower (d. 1936)
- 1871 – Jacob Ellehammer, Danish mechanic and engineer (d. 1946)
- 1872 – János Szlepecz, Slovene priest and author (d. 1936)
- 1877 – Jane Bathori, French soprano (d. 1970)
- 1877 – Ida MacLean, British biochemist, the first woman admitted to the London Chemical Society (d. 1944)
- 1878 – Léon Thiébaut, French fencer (d. 1943)
- 1879 – Arthur Duffey, American sprinter and coach (d. 1955)
- 1884 – John McCormack, Irish tenor and actor (d. 1945)
- 1884 – Georg Zacharias, German swimmer (d. 1953)
- 1890 – May Allison, American actress (d. 1989)
- 1894 – Marie-Adélaïde, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg (d. 1924)
- 1894 – José Carlos Mariátegui (d. 1930)
- 1894 – W. W. E. Ross, Canadian geophysicist and poet (d. 1966)
- 1895 – Jack Adams, Canadian-American ice hockey player, coach, and manager (d. 1968)
- 1900 – Ruth Nanda Anshen, American writer, editor, and philosopher (d. 2003)
- 1900 – June Walker, American stage and film actress (d. 1966)
- 1903 – Alonzo Church, American mathematician and logician (d. 1995)
- 1903 – Rose Rand, Austrian-American logician and philosopher from the Vienna Circle (d. 1980)
- 1904 – Margaret Bourke-White, American photographer and journalist (d. 1971)
- 1905 – Steve Broidy, American businessman (d. 1991)
- 1905 – Arthur Davis, American animator and director (d. 2000)
- 1907 – Nicolas Bentley, English author and illustrator (d. 1978)
- 1907 – René Char, French poet and author (d. 1988)
- 1909 – Burl Ives, American actor and singer (d. 1995)
- 1910 – Rudolf Kempe, German pianist and conductor (d. 1976)
- 1913 – Joe Morris, English-Canadian lieutenant and trade union leader (d. 1996)
- 1916 – Dorothy McGuire, American actress (d. 2001)
- 1917 – Lise Nørgaard, Danish journalist, author, and screenwriter
- 1917 – Gilbert Prouteau, French poet and director (d. 2012)
- 1917 – Atle Selberg, Norwegian-American mathematician and academic (d. 2007)
- 1918 – Fred Baur, American chemist and founder of Pringles (d. 2008)
- 1919 – Gene Barry, American actor (d. 2009)
- 1919 – Sam Wanamaker, American actor and director (d. 1993)
- 1921 – Martha Greenhouse, American actress (d. 2013)
- 1923 – Judith Kerr, German-English author and illustrator (d. 2019)
- 1923 – Green Wix Unthank, American soldier, lawyer, and judge (d. 2013)
- 1924 – James Black, Scottish pharmacologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2010)
- 1925 – Pierre Salinger, American journalist and politician, 11th White House Press Secretary (d. 2004)
- 1926 – Don Newcombe, American baseball player (d. 2019)
- 1928 – Ernesto “Che” Guevara, Argentinian-Cuban physician, author, guerrilla leader and politician (d. 1967)
- 1929 – Cy Coleman, American pianist and composer (d. 2004)
- 1929 – Alan Davidson, Australian cricketer
- 1929 – Johnny Wilson, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach (d. 2011)
- 1931 – Marla Gibbs, American actress and comedian
- 1931 – Ross Higgins, Australian actor (d. 2016)
- 1931 – Junior Walker, American saxophonist (d. 1995)
- 1933 – Jerzy Kosiński, Polish-American novelist and screenwriter (d. 1991)
- 1933 – Vladislav Rastorotsky, Russian gymnast and coach
- 1936 – Renaldo Benson, American singer-songwriter (d. 2005)
- 1936 – Irmelin Sandman Lilius, Finnish author, poet, and translator
- 1938 – Julie Felix, American-English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2020)
- 1939 – Steny Hoyer, American lawyer and politician
- 1939 – Peter Mayle, English author and screenwriter (d. 2018)
- 1939 – Colin Thubron, English journalist and author
- 1942 – Jonathan Raban, English author and academic
- 1942 – Roberto García-Calvo Montiel, Spanish judge (d. 2008)
- 1943 – Barry Burman, English painter and academic (d. 2001)
- 1943 – Jennifer Gretton, Baroness Gretton, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire
- 1943 – John Miles, English racing driver and journalist
- 1943 – Harold Wheeler, American composer, conductor, and producer
- 1944 – Laurie Colwin, American novelist and short story writer (d. 1992)
- 1945 – Rod Argent, English singer-songwriter and keyboard player
- 1945 – Carlos Reichenbach, Brazilian director and producer (d. 2012)
- 1945 – Richard Stebbins, American sprinter and educator
- 1946 – Robert Louis-Dreyfus, French-Swiss businessman (d. 2009)
- 1946 – Tõnu Sepp, Estonian instrument maker and educator
- 1946 – Donald Trump, American businessman, television personality and 45th President of the United States
- 1947 – Roger Liddle, Baron Liddle, English politician
- 1947 – Barry Melton, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1947 – Paul Rudolph, Canadian singer, guitarist, and cyclist
- 1948 – Laurence Yep, American author and playwright
- 1949 – Jim Lea, English singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer
- 1949 – Roger Powell, English-Australian scientist and academic
- 1949 – Antony Sher, South African-British actor, director, and screenwriter
- 1949 – Harry Turtledove, American historian and author
- 1949 – Alan White, English drummer and songwriter
- 1950 – Rowan Williams, Welsh archbishop and theologian
- 1951 – Paul Boateng, English lawyer and politician, British High Commissioner to South Africa
- 1951 – Danny Edwards, American golfer
- 1952 – Robert Lepikson, Estonian racing driver and politician, Estonian Minister of the Interior (d. 2006)
- 1952 – Pat Summitt, American basketball player and coach (d. 2016)
- 1952 – Leon Wieseltier, American philosopher, journalist, and critic
- 1953 – Janet Mackey, New Zealand lawyer and politician
- 1954 – Will Patton, American actor
- 1955 – Michael D. Duvall, American businessman and politician
- 1955 – Paul O’Grady, English television host, producer, and drag performer
- 1955 – Kirron Kher, Indian theatre, film & television actress, TV talk show host, politician and Member of Parliament
- 1956 – Fred Funk, American golfer and coach
- 1956 – King Diamond (Kim Bendix Petersen), heavy metal musician
- 1957 – Suzanne Nora Johnson, American lawyer and businesswoman
- 1957 – Mona Simpson, American novelist
- 1958 – Pamela Geller, American activist and blogger
- 1959 – Marcus Miller, American bass player, composer, and producer
- 1960 – Tonie Campbell, American hurdler
- 1960 – Mike Laga, American baseball player
- 1961 – Boy George, English singer-songwriter and producer
- 1961 – Dušan Kojić, Serbian singer-songwriter and bass player
- 1961 – Sam Perkins, American basketball player
- 1963 – Grant Kenny, Australian iron man and canoeist
- 1964 – Peter Gilliver, English lexicographer and academic
- 1967 – Dedrick Dodge, American football player and coach
- 1968 – Campbell Brown, American journalist
- 1968 – Faizon Love, Cuban-American actor and screenwriter
- 1969 – Éric Desjardins, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1969 – Steffi Graf, German tennis player
- 1970 – Heather McDonald, American comedian, actress, and author
- 1971 – Bruce Bowen, American basketball player and sportscaster
- 1971 – Ramon Vega, Swiss footballer
- 1972 – Rick Brunson, American basketball player and coach
- 1972 – Matthias Ettrich, German computer scientist and engineer, founded KDE
- 1972 – Dominic Brown, English guitarist and songwriter
- 1972 – Claude Henderson, South African cricketer
- 1972 – Danny McFarlane, Jamaican hurdler and sprinter
- 1973 – Sami Kapanen, Finnish-American ice hockey player and manager
- 1976 – Alan Carr, English comedian, actor, and screenwriter
- 1976 – Massimo Oddo, Italian footballer and manager
- 1977 – Boeta Dippenaar, South African cricketer
- 1977 – Chris McAlister, American football player
- 1977 – Joe Worsley, English rugby player and coach
- 1978 – Steve Bégin, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1978 – Diablo Cody, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1978 – Annia Hatch, Cuban-American gymnast and coach
- 1978 – Nikola Vujčić, Croatian former professional basketball player
- 1979 – Shannon Hegarty, Australian rugby league player
- 1981 – Elano, Brazilian footballer and manager
- 1982 – Jamie Green, English racing driver
- 1982 – Nicole Irving, Australian swimmer
- 1982 – Lang Lang, Chinese pianist
- 1983 – Trevor Barry, Bahamian high jumper
- 1983 – Louis Garrel, French actor, director, and screenwriter
- 1984 – Lorenzo Booker, American football player
- 1984 – Mark Cosgrove, Australian cricketer
- 1984 – Siobhán Donaghy, English singer-songwriter
- 1984 – Yury Prilukov, Russian swimmer
- 1985 – Oleg Medvedev. Russian luger
- 1985 – Andy Soucek, Spanish racing driver
- 1986 – Matt Read, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1987 – Andrew Cogliano, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1987 – Mohamed Diamé, Senegalese footballer
- 1988 – Adrián Aldrete, Mexican footballer
- 1988 – Kevin McHale, American actor, singer, dancer and radio personality
- 1989 – Lucy Hale, American actress and singer-songwriter
- 1989 – Brad Takairangi, Australian-Cook Islands rugby league player
- 1990 – Patrice Cormier, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1990 – Stephen McLaughlin, Irish footballer
- 1991 – Kostas Manolas, Greek footballer
- 1991 – Jesy Nelson, English singer
- 1992 – Devante Smith-Pelly, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1993 – Gunna, American rapper
- 1993 – Ryan McCartan, American actor and singer
- 1999 – Tzuyu, Taiwanese singer
Deaths on June 14
- 809 – Ōtomo no Otomaro, Japanese general (b. 731)
- 847 – Methodius I, patriarch of Constantinople
- 957 – Guadamir, bishop of Vic (Spain)
- 976 – Aron, Bulgarian nobleman
- 1161 – Emperor Qinzong of the Song dynasty (b. 1100)
- 1205 – Walter III, Count of Brienne
- 1349 – Günther von Schwarzburg, German king (b. 1304)
- 1381 – Simon Sudbury, English archbishop (b. 1316)
- 1497 – Giovanni Borgia, 2nd Duke of Gandía, Italian son of Pope Alexander VI (b. 1474)
- 1516 – John III of Navarre (b. 1469)
- 1544 – Antoine, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1489)
- 1548 – Carpentras, French composer (b. 1470)
- 1583 – Shibata Katsuie, Japanese samurai (b. 1522)
- 1594 – Jacob Kroger, German goldsmith, hanged in Edinburgh for stealing the jewels of Anne of Denmark.
- 1594 – Orlande de Lassus, Flemish composer and educator (b. 1532)
- 1662 – Henry Vane the Younger, English-American politician, Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony (b. 1613)
- 1674 – Marin le Roy de Gomberville, French author and poet (b. 1600)
- 1679 – Guillaume Courtois, French painter and illustrator (b. 1628)
- 1746 – Colin Maclaurin, Scottish mathematician (b. 1698)
- 1794 – Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Marquess of Hertford, English courtier and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1718)
- 1800 – Louis Desaix, French general (b. 1768)
- 1800 – Jean-Baptiste Kléber, French general (b. 1753)
- 1801 – Benedict Arnold, American general during the American Revolution later turned British spy (b. 1741)
- 1825 – Pierre Charles L’Enfant, French-American architect and engineer, designed Washington, D.C. (b. 1754)
- 1837 – Giacomo Leopardi, Italian poet and philosopher (b. 1798)
- 1864 – Leonidas Polk, American general and bishop (b. 1806)
- 1887 – Mary Carpenter, English educational and social reformer (b. 1807)
- 1883 – Edward FitzGerald, English poet and author (b. 1809)
- 1886 – Alexander Ostrovsky, Russian director and playwright (b. 1823)
- 1907 – William Le Baron Jenney, American architect and engineer, designed the Home Insurance Building (b. 1832)
- 1907 – Bartolomé Masó, Cuban soldier and politician (b. 1830)
- 1908 – Frederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby, English captain and politician, 6th Governor General of Canada (b. 1841)
- 1914 – Adlai Stevenson I, American lawyer and politician, 23rd Vice President of the United States (b. 1835)
- 1916 – João Simões Lopes Neto, Brazilian author (b. 1865)
- 1920 – Max Weber, German sociologist and economist (b. 1864)
- 1923 – Isabelle Bogelot, French philanthropist (b. 1838)
- 1926 – Mary Cassatt, American-French painter (b. 1843)
- 1927 – Ottavio Bottecchia, Italian cyclist (b. 1894)
- 1927 – Jerome K. Jerome, English author (b. 1859)
- 1928 – Emmeline Pankhurst, English activist and academic (b. 1857)
- 1932 – Dorimène Roy Desjardins, Canadian businesswoman, co-founded Desjardins Group (b. 1858)
- 1933 – Justinien de Clary, French target shooter (b. 1860)
- 1936 – G. K. Chesterton, English essayist, poet, playwright, and novelist (b. 1874)
- 1936 – Hans Poelzig, German architect, painter, and designer, designed the IG Farben Building (b. 1869)
- 1946 – John Logie Baird, Scottish-English physicist and engineer (b. 1888)
- 1946 – Jorge Ubico, 21st President of Guatemala (b. 1878)
- 1953 – Tom Cole, Welsh-American racing driver (b. 1922)
- 1968 – Salvatore Quasimodo, Italian novelist and poet, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1901)
- 1972 – Dündar Taşer, Turkish soldier and politician (b. 1925)
- 1977 – Robert Middleton, American actor (b. 1911)
- 1977 – Alan Reed, American actor, original voice of Fred Flintstone (b.1907)
- 1979 – Ahmad Zahir, Afghan singer-songwriter (b. 1946)
- 1980 – Charles Miller, American saxophonist and flute player (b. 1939)
- 1986 – Jorge Luis Borges, Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator (b. 1899)
- 1986 – Alan Jay Lerner, American composer and songwriter (b. 1918)
- 1987 – Stanisław Bareja, Polish actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1929)
- 1990 – Erna Berger, German soprano and actress (b. 1900)
- 1991 – Peggy Ashcroft, English actress (b. 1907)
- 1994 – Lionel Grigson, English pianist, composer, and educator (b. 1942)
- 1994 – Henry Mancini, American composer and conductor (b. 1924)
- 1994 – Marcel Mouloudji, French singer and actor (b. 1922)
- 1995 – Els Aarne, Ukrainian-Estonian pianist, composer, and educator (b. 1917)
- 1995 – Rory Gallagher, Irish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1949)
- 1995 – Roger Zelazny, American author and poet (b. 1937)
- 1996 – Noemí Gerstein, Argentinian sculptor and illustrator (b. 1908)
- 1997 – Richard Jaeckel, American actor (b. 1926)
- 1999 – Bernie Faloney, American-Canadian football player and sportscaster (b. 1932)
- 2000 – Attilio Bertolucci, Italian poet and author (b. 1911)
- 2002 – June Jordan, American author and activist (b. 1936)
- 2003 – Dale Whittington, American race car driver (b. 1959)
- 2004 – Ulrich Inderbinen, Swiss mountaineer and guide (b. 1900)
- 2005 – Carlo Maria Giulini, Italian conductor and director (b. 1914)
- 2005 – Mimi Parent, Canadian-Swiss painter (b. 1924)
- 2006 – Monty Berman, English director, producer, and cinematographer (b. 1905)
- 2006 – Jean Roba, Belgian author and illustrator (b. 1930)
- 2007 – Ruth Graham, Chinese-American author, poet, and painter (b. 1920)
- 2007 – Robin Olds, American general and pilot (b. 1922)
- 2007 – Kurt Waldheim, Secretary-General of the United Nations, Austrian politician, 9th President of Austria (b. 1918)
- 2009 – Bob Bogle, American musician (The Ventures) (b. 1934)
- 2009 – William McIntyre, Canadian soldier, lawyer, and judge (b. 1918)
- 2012 – Peter Archer, Baron Archer of Sandwell, English lawyer and politician, Solicitor General for England and Wales (b. 1926)
- 2012 – Bob Chappuis, American football player and soldier (b. 1923)
- 2012 – Margie Hyams, American pianist and vibraphone player (b. 1920)
- 2012 – Karl-Heinz Kämmerling, German pianist and academic (b. 1930)
- 2012 – Carlos Reichenbach, Brazilian director and producer (b. 1945)
- 2012 – Gitta Sereny, Austrian-English historian, journalist, and author (b. 1921)
- 2013 – Elroy Schwartz, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1923)
- 2014 – Alberto Cañas Escalante, Costa Rican journalist and politician (b. 1920)
- 2014 – Isabelle Collin Dufresne, French actress (b. 1935)
- 2014 – Robert Lebeck, German photographer and journalist (b. 1929)
- 2014 – James E. Rogers, American lawyer, businessman, and academic (b. 1938)
- 2015 – Richard Cotton, Australian geneticist and academic (b. 1940)
- 2015 – Anne Nicol Gaylor, American activist, co-founded the Freedom From Religion Foundation (b. 1926)
- 2015 – Qiao Shi, Chinese politician (b. 1924)
- 2016 – Ann Morgan Guilbert, American actress and singer (b. 1928)
- 2016 – Gilles Lamontagne, Canadian politician, Lieutenant Governor of Quebec (b. 1919)
- 2020 – Sushant Singh Rajput, Indian film actor (b. 1986)
Holidays and observances on June 14
- Christian feast day:
- Burchard of Meissen
- Caomhán of Inisheer
- Elisha (Roman Catholic and Lutheran)
- Fortunatus of Naples (Roman Catholic)
- Blessed Francisca de Paula de Jesus (Nhá Chica)
- Joseph the Hymnographer (Roman Catholic: Orthodox April 3)
- Methodios I of Constantinople
- Quintian of Rodez (Rodez)
- Richard Baxter (Church of England)
- Valerius and Rufinus
- June 14 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Commemoration of the Soviet Deportation related observances:
- Baltic Freedom Day (United States)
- Mourning and Commemoration Day or Leinapäev (Estonia)
- Mourning and Hope Day (Lithuania)
- Day of Memory for Repressed People (Armenia)
- Flag Day (United States)
- Freedom Day (Malawi)
- Liberation Day (Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands)
- World Blood Donor Day
-
June 5 in History
- 1257 – Kraków, in Poland, receives city rights.
- 1283 – Battle of the Gulf of Naples: Roger of Lauria, admiral to King Peter III of Aragon, destroys the Neapolitan fleet and captures Charles of Salerno.
- 1288 – The Battle of Worringen ends the War of the Limburg Succession, with John I, Duke of Brabant, being one of the more important victors.
- 1610 – The masque Tethys’ Festival is performed at Whitehall Palace to celebrate the investiture of Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales.
- 1644 – The Qing dynasty Manchu forces led by the Shunzhi Emperor take Beijing during the collapse of the Ming dynasty.
- 1798 – The Battle of New Ross: The attempt to spread the United Irish Rebellion into Munster is defeated.
- 1817 – The first Great Lakes steamer, the Frontenac, is launched.
- 1829 – HMS Pickle captures the armed slave ship Voladora off the coast of Cuba.
- 1832 – The June Rebellion breaks out in Paris in an attempt to overthrow the monarchy of Louis Philippe.
- 1837 – Houston is incorporated by the Republic of Texas.
- 1849 – Denmark becomes a constitutional monarchy by the signing of a new constitution.
- 1851 – Harriet Beecher Stowe’s anti-slavery serial, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, or Life Among the Lowly, starts a ten-month run in the National Era abolitionist newspaper.
- 1862 – As the Treaty of Saigon is signed, ceding parts of southern Vietnam to France, the guerrilla leader Trương Định decides to defy Emperor Tự Đức of Vietnam and fight on against the Europeans.
- 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Piedmont: Union forces under General David Hunter defeat a Confederate army at Piedmont, Virginia, taking nearly 1,000 prisoners.
- 1873 – Sultan Barghash bin Said of Zanzibar closes the great slave market under the terms of a treaty with Great Britain.
- 1883 – The first regularly scheduled Orient Express departs Paris.
- 1888 – The Rio de la Plata earthquake takes place.
- 1893 – The trial of Lizzie Borden for the murder of her father and step-mother begins in New Bedford, Massachusetts.
- 1900 – Second Boer War: British soldiers take Pretoria.
- 1915 – Denmark amends its constitution to allow women’s suffrage.
- 1916 – Louis Brandeis is sworn in as a Justice of the United States Supreme Court; he is the first American Jew to hold such a position.
- 1916 – World War I: The Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire breaks out.
- 1917 – World War I: Conscription begins in the United States as “Army registration day”.
- 1940 – World War II: After a brief lull in the Battle of France, the Germans renew the offensive against the remaining French divisions south of the River Somme in Operation Fall Rot (“Case Red”).
- 1941 – World War II: Four thousand Chongqing residents are asphyxiated in a bomb shelter during the Bombing of Chongqing.
- 1942 – World War II: The United States declares war on Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania.
- 1944 – World War II: More than 1,000 British bombers drop 5,000 tons of bombs on German gun batteries on the Normandy coast in preparation for D-Day.
- 1945 – The Allied Control Council, the military occupation governing body of Germany, formally takes power.
- 1946 – A fire in the La Salle Hotel in Chicago, Illinois, kills 61 people.
- 1947 – Cold War: Marshall Plan: In a speech at Harvard University, the United States Secretary of State George Marshall calls for economic aid to war-torn Europe.
- 1949 – Thailand elects Orapin Chaiyakan, the first female member of Thailand’s Parliament.
- 1956 – Elvis Presley introduces his new single, “Hound Dog”, on The Milton Berle Show, scandalizing the audience with his suggestive hip movements.
- 1959 – The first government of Singapore is sworn in.
- 1963 – The British Secretary of State for War, John Profumo, resigns in a sex scandal known as the “Profumo affair”.
- 1963 – Movement of 15 Khordad: Protests against the arrest of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini by the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. In several cities, masses of angry demonstrators are confronted by tanks and paratroopers.
- 1964 – DSV Alvin is commissioned.
- 1967 – The Six-Day War begins: Israel launches surprise strikes against Egyptian air-fields in response to the mobilisation of Egyptian forces on the Israeli border.
- 1968 – Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy is assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan.
- 1975 – The Suez Canal opens for the first time since the Six-Day War.
- 1975 – The United Kingdom holds its first country-wide referendum on membership of the European Economic Community (EEC).
- 1976 – The Teton Dam in Idaho, United States, collapses.
- 1981 – The “Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report” of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that five people in Los Angeles, California, have a rare form of pneumonia seen only in patients with weakened immune systems, in what turns out to be the first recognized cases of AIDS.
- 1983 – More than 100 people are killed when the Russian river cruise ship Aleksandr Suvorov collides with a girder of the Ulyanovsk Railway Bridge. The collision caused a freight train to derail, further damaging the vessel yet the ship remained afloat and was eventually restored and returned to service.
- 1984 – Operation Blue Star: Under orders from India’s prime minister, Indira Gandhi, the Indian Army begins an invasion of the Golden Temple, the holiest site of the Sikh religion.
- 1989 – The Tank Man halts the progress of a column of advancing tanks for over half an hour after the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.
- 1993 – Portions of the Holbeck Hall Hotel in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, UK, fall into the sea following a landslide.
- 1995 – The Bose–Einstein condensate is first created.
- 1997 – The Second Republic of the Congo Civil War begins.
- 1998 – A strike begins at the General Motors parts factory in Flint, Michigan, that quickly spreads to five other assembly plants. The strike lasts seven weeks.
- 2000 – The Six-Day War in Kisangani begins in Kisangani, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, between Ugandan and Rwandan forces. A large part of the city is destroyed.
- 2001 – Tropical Storm Allison makes landfall on the upper-Texas coastline as a strong tropical storm and dumps large amounts of rain over Houston. The storm causes $5.5 billion in damages, making Allison the second costliest tropical storm in U.S. history.
- 2003 – A severe heat wave across Pakistan and India reaches its peak, as temperatures exceed 50 °C (122 °F) in the region.
- 2004 – Noël Mamère, Mayor of Bègles, celebrates marriage for two men for the first time in France.
- 2006 – Serbia declares independence from the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro.
- 2009 – After 65 straight days of civil disobedience, at least 31 people are killed in clashes between security forces and indigenous people near Bagua, Peru.
- 2013 – A building collapse in Philadelphia kills six and wounds 14 other people.
- 2015 – An earthquake with a moment magnitude of 6.0 struck Ranau, Sabah, Malaysia killing 18 people, including hikers and mountain guides on Mount Kinabalu, after mass landslides that occurred during the earthquake. This is the strongest earthquake to strike Malaysia since 1975.
- 2017 – Montenegro becomes the 29th member of the NATO.
- 2017 – Six Arab countries—Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and the United Arab Emirates—cut diplomatic ties with Qatar, accusing it of destabilising the region.
Births on June 5
- 1341 – Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, son of King Edward III of England and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (d. 1402)
- 1412 – Ludovico III Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua, Italian ruler (d. 1478)
- 1493 – Justus Jonas, German priest and academic (d. 1555)
- 1523 – Margaret of France, Duchess of Berry (d. 1573)
- 1554 – Benedetto Giustiniani, Italian clergyman (d. 1621)
- 1587 – Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick, English colonial administrator and admiral (d. 1658)
- 1596 – Peter Wtewael, Dutch Golden Age painter (d. 1660)
- 1640 – Pu Songling, Chinese author (d. 1715)
- 1646 – Elena Cornaro Piscopia, Italian mathematician and philosopher (d. 1684)
- 1660 – Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough (d. 1744)
- 1757 – Pierre Jean George Cabanis, French physiologist and philosopher (d. 1808)
- 1760 – Johan Gadolin, Finnish chemist, physicist, and mineralogist (d. 1852)
- 1771 – Ernest Augustus, King of Hanover (d. 1851)
- 1781 – Christian Lobeck, German scholar and academic (d. 1860)
- 1801 – William Scamp, English architect and engineer (d. 1872)
- 1819 – John Couch Adams, English mathematician and astronomer (d. 1892)
- 1830 – Carmine Crocco, Italian soldier (d. 1905)
- 1850 – Pat Garrett, American sheriff (d. 1908)
- 1862 – Allvar Gullstrand, Swedish ophthalmologist and optician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1930)
- 1868 – James Connolly, Scottish-born Irish rebel leader (d. 1916)
- 1870 – Bernard de Pourtalès, Swiss captain and sailor (d. 1935)
- 1876 – Isaac Heinemann, German-Israeli scholar and academic (d. 1957)
- 1877 – Willard Miller, Canadian-American sailor, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1959)
- 1878 – Pancho Villa, Mexican general and politician, Governor of Chihuahua (d. 1923)
- 1879 – Robert Mayer, German-English businessman and philanthropist (d. 1985)
- 1883 – John Maynard Keynes, English economist, philosopher, and academic (d. 1946)
- 1884 – Ralph Benatzky, Czech-Swiss composer (d. 1957)
- 1884 – Ivy Compton-Burnett, English author (d. 1969)
- 1884 – Frederick Lorz, American runner (d. 1914)
- 1892 – Jaan Kikkas, Estonian weightlifter (d. 1944)
- 1894 – Roy Thomson, 1st Baron Thomson of Fleet, Canadian-English publisher and academic (d. 1976)
- 1895 – William Boyd, American actor and producer (d. 1972)
- 1895 – William Roberts, English soldier and painter (d. 1980)
- 1898 – Salvatore Ferragamo, Italian shoe designer, founded Salvatore Ferragamo S.p.A. (d. 1960)
- 1898 – Federico García Lorca, Spanish poet, playwright, and director (d. 1936)
- 1899 – Otis Barton, American diver, engineer, and actor, designed the bathysphere (d. 1992)
- 1899 – Theippan Maung Wa, Burmese writer (d. 1942)
- 1900 – Dennis Gabor, Hungarian-English physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1979)
- 1902 – Arthur Powell Davies, American minister, author, and activist (d. 1957)
- 1905 – Wayne Boring, American illustrator (d. 1987)
- 1912 – Dean Amadon, American ornithologist and author (d. 2003)
- 1912 – Eric Hollies, English cricketer (d. 1981)
- 1913 – Conrad Marca-Relli, American-Italian painter and academic (d. 2000)
- 1914 – Beatrice de Cardi, English archaeologist and academic (d. 2016)
- 1916 – Sid Barnes, Australian cricketer (d. 1973)
- 1916 – Eddie Joost, American baseball player and manager (d. 2011)
- 1919 – Richard Scarry, American-Swiss author and illustrator (d. 1994)
- 1920 – Marion Motley, American football player and coach (d. 1999)
- 1920 – Cornelius Ryan, Irish-American journalist and author (d. 1974)
- 1922 – Paul Couvret, Dutch-Australian soldier, pilot, and politician (d. 2013)
- 1922 – Sheila Sim, English actress (d. 2016)
- 1923 – Jorge Daponte, Argentinian racing driver (d. 1963)
- 1923 – Roger Lebel, Canadian actor (d. 1994)
- 1923 – Daniel Pinkham, American organist and composer (d. 2006)
- 1924 – Lou Brissie, American baseball player and scout (d. 2013)
- 1924 – Art Donovan, American football player and radio host (d. 2013)
- 1925 – Bill Hayes, American actor and singer
- 1926 – Paul Soros, Hungarian-American engineer and businessman (d. 2013)
- 1928 – Robert Lansing, American actor (d. 1994)
- 1928 – Umberto Maglioli, Italian racing driver (d. 1999)
- 1928 – Tony Richardson, English-American director and producer (d. 1991)
- 1930 – Alifa Rifaat, Egyptian author (d. 1996)
- 1931 – Yves Blais, Canadian businessman and politician (d. 1998)
- 1931 – Jacques Demy, French actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1990)
- 1931 – Jerzy Prokopiuk, Polish anthropologist and philosopher
- 1932 – Christy Brown, Irish painter and author (d. 1981)
- 1932 – Dave Gold, American businessman, founded the 99 Cents Only Stores (d. 2013)
- 1933 – Bata Živojinović, Serbian actor and politician (d. 2016)
- 1934 – Vilhjálmur Einarsson, Icelandic triple jumper, painter, and educator (d. 2019)
- 1934 – Bill Moyers, American journalist, 13th White House Press Secretary
- 1937 – Hélène Cixous, French author, poet, and critic
- 1938 – Moira Anderson, Scottish singer
- 1938 – Karin Balzer, German hurdler (d. 2019)
- 1938 – Roy Higgins, Australian jockey (d. 2014)
- 1939 – Joe Clark, Canadian journalist and politician, 16th Prime Minister of Canada
- 1939 – Margaret Drabble, English novelist, biographer, and critic
- 1941 – Martha Argerich, Argentinian pianist
- 1941 – Erasmo Carlos, Brazilian singer-songwriter
- 1941 – Spalding Gray, American writer, actor, and monologist (d. 2004)
- 1941 – Robert Kraft, American businessman, founded The Kraft Group
- 1941 – Jeff Rooker, Baron Rooker, English academic and politician, Minister of State for Immigration
- 1941 – Gudrun Sjödén, Swedish designer
- 1942 – Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, Equatoguinean lieutenant and politician, 2nd President of Equatorial Guinea
- 1943 – Abraham Viruthakulangara, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Nagpur, Maharashtra, India (d. 2018)
- 1944 – Whitfield Diffie, American cryptographer and academic
- 1945 – John Carlos, American runner and football player
- 1945 – André Lacroix, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach
- 1946 – John Du Cann, English guitarist (d. 2001)
- 1946 – Bob Grant, Australian rugby league player
- 1946 – Patrick Head, English engineer and businessman, co-founded Williams F1
- 1946 – Wanderléa, Brazilian singer and television host
- 1947 – Laurie Anderson, American singer-songwriter and violinist
- 1947 – Tom Evans, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1983)
- 1947 – David Hare, English director, playwright, and screenwriter
- 1947 – Freddie Stone, American singer, guitarist, and pastor
- 1949 – Ken Follett, Welsh author
- 1949 – Elizabeth Gloster, English lawyer and judge
- 1949 – Alexander Scrymgeour, 12th Earl of Dundee, Scottish politician
- 1950 – Ronnie Dyson, American singer and actor (d. 1990)
- 1950 – Abraham Sarmiento, Jr., Filipino journalist and activist (d. 1977)
- 1951 – Suze Orman, American financial adviser, author, and television host
- 1952 – Pierre Bruneau, Canadian journalist and news anchor
- 1952 – Carole Fredericks, American singer (d. 2001)
- 1952 – Nicko McBrain, English drummer and songwriter
- 1953 – Kathleen Kennedy, American film producer, co-founded Amblin Entertainment
- 1954 – Alberto Malesani, Italian footballer and manager
- 1954 – Phil Neale, English cricketer, coach, and manager
- 1954 – Nancy Stafford, American model and actress
- 1955 – Edino Nazareth Filho, Brazilian footballer and manager
- 1956 – Richard Butler, English singer-songwriter
- 1956 – Kenny G, American saxophonist, songwriter, and producer
- 1957 – Charles Nolan, American fashion designer (d. 2011)
- 1958 – Avigdor Lieberman, Moldavian-Israeli soldier and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Israel
- 1958 – Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi, Comorian businessman and politician, President of Comoros
- 1959 – Mark Ella, Australian rugby player
- 1959 – Werner Schildhauer, German runner
- 1960 – Boris Dugan, Estonian footballer and coach
- 1960 – Claire Fox, English author and academic
- 1961 – Anke Behmer, German heptathlete
- 1961 – Mary Kay Bergman, American voice actress (d. 1999)
- 1961 – Anthony Burger, American singer and pianist (d. 2006)
- 1961 – Aldo Costa, Italian engineer
- 1961 – Ramesh Krishnan, Indian tennis player and coach
- 1962 – Jeff Garlin, American actor, comedian, director, and screenwriter
- 1962 – Tõnis Lukas, Estonian historian and politician, 34th Estonian Minister of Education
- 1964 – Lisa Cholodenko, American director and screenwriter
- 1964 – Karl Sanders, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1965 – Michael E. Brown, American astronomer and author
- 1965 – Sandrine Piau, French soprano
- 1965 – Alfie Turcotte, American ice hockey player
- 1967 – Matt Bullard, American basketball player and sportscaster
- 1967 – Joe DeLoach, American sprinter
- 1967 – Ray Lankford, American baseball player
- 1967 – Ron Livingston, American actor
- 1968 – Ed Vaizey, English lawyer and politician, Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries
- 1969 – Brian McKnight, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actor
- 1970 – Martin Gélinas, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1971 – Susan Lynch, Northern Irish actress
- 1971 – Alex Mooney, American politician
- 1971 – Takaya Tsubobayashi, Japanese racing driver
- 1971 – Mark Wahlberg, American model, actor, producer, and rapper
- 1972 – Yogi Adityanath, Indian priest and politician
- 1972 – Paweł Kotla, Polish conductor and academic
- 1973 – Lamon Brewster, American boxer
- 1973 – Gella Vandecaveye, Belgian martial artist
- 1974 – Mervyn Dillon, Trinidadian cricketer
- 1974 – Scott Draper, Australian tennis player and golfer
- 1974 – Russ Ortiz, American baseball player
- 1975 – Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Lithuanian-American basketball player
- 1975 – Duncan Patterson, English drummer and keyboard player
- 1975 – Sandra Stals, Belgian runner
- 1976 – Giannis Giannoulis, Canadian basketball player
- 1976 – Torry Holt, American football player and sportscaster
- 1977 – Liza Weil, American actress
- 1978 – Fernando Meira, Portuguese footballer
- 1979 – Stefanos Kotsolis, Greek footballer
- 1979 – Matthew Scarlett, Australian footballer
- 1979 – Pete Wentz, American singer-songwriter, bass player, actor, and fashion designer
- 1979 – Jason White, American race car driver
- 1980 – Mike Fisher, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1980 – Antonio García, Spanish racing driver
- 1981 – Serhat Akın, Turkish footballer
- 1981 – Sébastien Lefebvre, Canadian singer and guitarist
- 1982 – Ryan Dallas Cook, American trombonist (d. 2005)
- 1983 – Marques Colston, American football player
- 1984 – Robert Barbieri, Canadian-Italian rugby player
- 1984 – Eric Traoré, Senegalese footballer
- 1985 – Jeremy Abbott, American figure skater
- 1985 – Ekaterina Bychkova, Russian tennis player
- 1986 – Dave Bolland, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1986 – Vernon Gholston, American football player
- 1987 – Marcus Thornton, American basketball player
- 1988 – Alessandro Salvi, Italian footballer
- 1989 – Cam Atkinson, American ice hockey player
- 1989 – Megumi Nakajima, Japanese voice actress and singer
- 1990 – Radko Gudas, Czech ice hockey defenceman
- 1991 – Sören Bertram, German footballer
- 1992 – Joazhiño Arroe, Peruvian footballer
- 1992 – Emily Seebohm, Australian swimmer
- 1993 – Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Samoan-New Zealand rugby league player
- 1995 – Troye Sivan, South African–born Australian singer-songwriter, actor, and YouTuber
- 1995 – Ross Wilson, English table tennis player
- 1997 – Sam Darnold, American football player
- 1998 – Yulia Lipnitskaya, Russian figure skater
Deaths on June 5
- 301 – Sima Lun, Chinese emperor (b. 249)
- 535 – Epiphanius, patriarch of Constantinople
- 567 – Theodosius I, patriarch of Alexandria
- 708 – Jacob of Edessa, Syrian bishop (b. 640)
- 754 – Eoban, bishop of Utrecht
- 754 – Boniface, English missionary and martyr (b. 675)
- 879 – Ya’qub ibn al-Layth, Persian emir (b. 840)
- 928 – Louis the Blind, king of Provence
- 1017 – Sanjō, emperor of Japan (b. 976)
- 1118 – Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester, Norman nobleman and politician (b. 1049)
- 1296 – Edmund Crouchback, English politician, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (b. 1245)
- 1310 – Amalric, prince of Tyre
- 1316 – Louis X, king of France (b. 1289)
- 1383 – Dmitry of Suzdal, Russian grand prince (b. 1324)
- 1400 – Frederick I, duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
- 1424 – Braccio da Montone, Italian nobleman (b. 1368)
- 1434 – Yuri IV, Russian grand prince (b. 1374)
- 1443 – Ferdinand, Portuguese prince (b. 1402)
- 1445 – Leonel Power, English composer
- 1530 – Mercurino Gattinara, Italian statesman and jurist (b. 1465)
- 1568 – Lamoral, Count of Egmont (b. 1522)
- 1625 – Orlando Gibbons, English organist and composer (b. 1583)
- 1667 – Francesco Sforza Pallavicino, Italian cardinal and historian (b. 1607)
- 1716 – Roger Cotes, English mathematician and academic (b. 1682)
- 1722 – Johann Kuhnau, German organist and composer (b. 1660)
- 1738 – Isaac de Beausobre, French pastor and theologian (b. 1659)
- 1740 – Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Kent, English politician and courtier (b. 1671)
- 1791 – Frederick Haldimand, Swiss-Canadian general and politician, 22nd Governor of Quebec (b. 1718)
- 1816 – Giovanni Paisiello, Italian composer and educator (b. 1741)
- 1825 – Odysseas Androutsos, Greek soldier (b. 1788)
- 1826 – Carl Maria von Weber, German pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1786)
- 1866 – John McDouall Stuart, Scottish explorer and surveyor (b. 1815)
- 1899 – Antonio Luna, Filipino general (b. 1866)
- 1900 – Stephen Crane, American poet, novelist, and short story writer (b. 1871)
- 1906 – Karl Robert Eduard von Hartmann, German philosopher and author (b. 1842)
- 1910 – O. Henry, American short story writer (b. 1862)
- 1913 – Chris von der Ahe, German-American businessman (b. 1851)
- 1916 – Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener, Irish-born British field marshal and politician, Secretary of State for War (b. 1850)
- 1920 – Rhoda Broughton, Welsh-English author (b. 1840)
- 1921 – Will Crooks, English trade unionist and politician (b. 1852)
- 1921 – Georges Feydeau, French playwright (b. 1862)
- 1930 – Eric Lemming, Swedish athlete (b. 1880)
- 1930 – Pascin, Bulgarian-French painter and illustrator (b. 1885)
- 1934 – Emily Dobson, Australian philanthropist (b. 1842)
- 1934 – William Holman, English-Australian politician, 19th Premier of New South Wales (b. 1871)
- 1947 – Nils Olaf Chrisander, Swedish-American actor and director (b. 1884)
- 1967 – Arthur Biram, Israeli philologist, philosopher, and academic (b. 1878)
- 1967 – Harry Brown, Australian public servant (b. 1878)
- 1993 – Conway Twitty, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1933)
- 1996 – Acharya Kuber Nath Rai, Indian poet and scholar (b. 1933)
- 1997 – J. Anthony Lukas, American journalist and author (b. 1933)
- 1998 – Jeanette Nolan, American actress (b. 1911)
- 1998 – Sam Yorty, American soldier and politician, 37th Mayor of Los Angeles (b. 1909)
- 1999 – Mel Tormé, American singer-songwriter (b. 1925)
- 2000 – Don Liddle, American baseball player (b. 1925)
- 2002 – Dee Dee Ramone, American singer-songwriter and bass player (b. 1951)
- 2003 – Jürgen Möllemann, German soldier and politician, 10th Vice-Chancellor of Germany (b. 1945)
- 2003 – Manuel Rosenthal, French composer and conductor (b. 1904)
- 2004 – Iona Brown, English violinist and conductor (b. 1941)
- 2004 – Ronald Reagan, American actor and politician, 40th President of the United States (b. 1911)
- 2005 – Adolfo Aguilar Zínser, Mexican scholar and politician (b. 1949)
- 2006 – Frederick Franck, Dutch-American painter, sculptor, and author (b. 1909)
- 2006 – Edward L. Moyers, American businessman (b. 1928)
- 2009 – Jeff Hanson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1978)
- 2012 – Ray Bradbury, American science fiction writer and screenwriter (b. 1920)
- 2012 – Hal Keller, American baseball player and manager (b. 1928)
- 2012 – Mihai Pătrașcu, Romanian-American computer scientist (b. 1982)
- 2012 – Charlie Sutton, Australian footballer and coach (b. 1924)
- 2013 – Helen McElhone, Scottish politician (b. 1933)
- 2013 – Stanisław Nagy, Polish cardinal (b. 1921)
- 2013 – Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, Irish republican activist and politician (b. 1932)
- 2013 – Michel Ostyn, Belgian physiologist and physician (b. 1924)
- 2014 – Abu Abdulrahman al-Bilawi, Iraqi commander (b. 1971)
- 2014 – Don Davis, American songwriter and producer (b. 1938)
- 2014 – Reiulf Steen, Norwegian journalist and politician, Norwegian Minister of Transport and Communications (b. 1933)
- 2015 – Tariq Aziz, Iraqi journalist and politician, Iraqi Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1936)
- 2015 – Alan Bond, English-Australian businessman (b. 1938)
- 2015 – Richard Johnson, English actor (b. 1927)
- 2015 – Roger Vergé, French chef and author (b. 1930)
- 2016 – Jerome Bruner, American psychologist (b. 1915)
- 2017 – Andy Cunningham, English actor (b. 1950)
- 2017 – Cheick Tioté, Ivorian footballer (b. 1986)
- 2018 – Kate Spade, American fashion designer (b. 1962)
Holidays and observances on June 5
- Arbor Day (New Zealand)
- Christian feast day:
- Boniface (Roman Catholic Church)
- Dorotheus of Tyre
- Genesius, Count of Clermont
- Blessed Meinwerk
- June 5 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Constitution Day (Denmark)
- Father’s Day (Denmark)
- Feast of Núr, the first day of the fifth month of the Bahá’í calendar (Bahá’í Faith) (only if Bahá’í Naw-Rúz falls on March 21)
- Indian Arrival Day (Suriname)
- Khordad Movement Anniversary (Iran) (Only if March equinox falls on March 20)
- Liberation Day (Seychelles)
- President’s Day (Equatorial Guinea)
- Reclamation Day (Azerbaijan)
- World Day Against Speciesism (International)
- World Environment Day (International)
-
June 1 in History
- 1215 – Zhongdu (now Beijing), then under the control of the Jurchen ruler Emperor Xuanzong of Jin, is captured by the Mongols under Genghis Khan, ending the Battle of Zhongdu.
- 1252 – Alfonso X is proclaimed king of Castile and León.
- 1298 – Residents of Riga and Grand Duchy of Lithuania defeated the Livonian Order in the Battle of Turaida.
- 1495 – A monk, John Cor, records the first known batch of Scotch whisky
- 1533 – Anne Boleyn is crowned Queen of England.
- 1535 – Combined forces loyal to Charles V attack and expel the Ottomans from Tunis during the Conquest of Tunis.
- 1648 – The Roundheads defeat the Cavaliers at the Battle of Maidstone in the Second English Civil War.
- 1649 – Start of the Sumuroy Revolt: Filipinos in Northern Samar led by Agustin Sumuroy revolt against Spanish colonial authorities.
- 1670 – In Dover, England, Charles II of England and Louis XIV of France sign the Secret Treaty of Dover, which will force England into the Third Anglo-Dutch War.
- 1676 – Battle of Öland: allied Danish-Dutch forces defeat the Swedish navy in the Baltic Sea, during the Scanian War (1675–79).
- 1679 – The Scottish Covenanters defeat John Graham of Claverhouse at the Battle of Drumclog.
- 1773 – Wolraad Woltemade rescues 14 sailors at the Cape of Good Hope from the sinking ship De Jonge Thomas by riding his horse into the sea seven times. He drowned on his eighth attempt.
- 1779 – The court-martial for malfeasance of Benedict Arnold, a general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, begins.
- 1792 – Kentucky is admitted as the 15th state of the United States.
- 1794 – The battle of the Glorious First of June is fought, the first naval engagement between Britain and France during the French Revolutionary Wars.
- 1796 – Tennessee is admitted as the 16th state of the United States.
- 1812 – War of 1812: U.S. President James Madison asks the Congress to declare war on the United Kingdom.
- 1813 – Capture of USS Chesapeake.
- 1815 – Napoleon promulgates a revised Constitution after it passes a plebiscite.
- 1831 – James Clark Ross becomes the first European at the North Magnetic Pole.
- 1849 – Territorial Governor Alexander Ramsey declared the Territory of Minnesota officially established.
- 1855 – The American adventurer William Walker conquers Nicaragua.
- 1857 – Charles Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs du mal is published.
- 1861 – American Civil War: The Battle of Fairfax Court House is fought.
- 1862 – American Civil War: Peninsula Campaign: The Battle of Seven Pines (or the Battle of Fair Oaks) ends inconclusively, with both sides claiming victory.
- 1868 – The Treaty of Bosque Redondo is signed, allowing the Navajo to return to their lands in Arizona and New Mexico.
- 1879 – Napoléon Eugène, the last dynastic Bonaparte, is killed in the Anglo-Zulu War.
- 1890 – The United States Census Bureau begins using Herman Hollerith’s tabulating machine to count census returns.
- 1913 – The Greek–Serbian Treaty of Alliance is signed, paving the way for the Second Balkan War.
- 1916 – Louis Brandeis becomes the first Jew appointed to the United States Supreme Court.
- 1918 – World War I: Western Front: Battle of Belleau Wood: Allied Forces under John J. Pershing and James Harbord engage Imperial German Forces under Wilhelm, German Crown Prince.
- 1922 – The Royal Ulster Constabulary is founded.
- 1929 – The 1st Conference of the Communist Parties of Latin America is held in Buenos Aires.
- 1930 – The Deccan Queen is introduced as first intercity train between Bombay VT (Now Mumbai CST) and Poona (Pune) to run on electric locomotives.
- 1939 – First flight of the German Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighter aircraft.
- 1941 – World War II: The Battle of Crete ends as Crete capitulates to Germany.
- 1941 – The Farhud, a massive pogrom in Iraq, starts and as a result, many Iraqi Jews are forced to leave their homes.
- 1943 – BOAC Flight 777 is shot down over the Bay of Biscay by German Junkers Ju 88s, killing British actor Leslie Howard and leading to speculation that it was actually an attempt to kill British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
- 1946 – Ion Antonescu, “Conducator” (“Leader”) of Romania during World War II, is executed.
- 1950 – The Chinchaga fire ignites. By September, it would become the largest single fire on record in North America.
- 1958 – Charles de Gaulle comes out of retirement to lead France by decree for six months.
- 1961 – The Canadian Bank of Commerce and Imperial Bank of Canada merge to form the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, the largest bank merger in Canadian history.
- 1962 – Adolf Eichmann is hanged in Israel.
- 1964 – Kenya becomes a republic with Jomo Kenyatta (1897 – 22 August 1978) as its first President (1964 to 1978).
- 1974 – The Heimlich maneuver for rescuing choking victims is published in the journal Emergency Medicine.
- 1975 – The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan was founded by Jalal Talabani, Nawshirwan Mustafa, Fuad Masum and others.
- 1978 – The first international applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty are filed.
- 1979 – The first black-led government of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in 90 years takes power.
- 1980 – Cable News Network (CNN) begins broadcasting.
- 1988 – European Central Bank is founded in Brussels.
- 1988 – The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty comes into effect.
- 1990 – Cold War: George H. W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev sign a treaty to end chemical weapon production.
- 1993 – Dobrinja mortar attack: Thirteen are killed and 133 wounded when Serb mortar shells are fired at a soccer game in Dobrinja, west of Sarajevo.
- 1994 – Republic of South Africa becomes a Commonwealth republic.
- 1999 – American Airlines Flight 1420 slides and crashes while landing at Little Rock National Airport, killing 11 people on a flight from Dallas to Little Rock.
- 2001 – Nepalese royal massacre: Crown Prince Dipendra of Nepal shoots and kills several members of his family including his father and mother.
- 2001 – Dolphinarium discotheque massacre: A Hamas suicide bomber kills 21 at a disco in Tel Aviv.
- 2004 – Oklahoma City bombing co-conspirator Terry Nichols is sentenced to 161 consecutive life terms without the possibility of a parole, breaking a Guinness World Record.
- 2008 – A fire on the back lot of Universal Studios breaks out, destroying the attraction King Kong Encounter and a large archive of master tapes for music and film, the full extent of which was not revealed until 2019.
- 2009 – Air France Flight 447 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Brazil on a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. All 228 passengers and crew are killed.
- 2009 – General Motors files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It is the fourth largest United States bankruptcy in history.
- 2011 – A rare tornado outbreak occurs in New England; a strong EF3 tornado strikes Springfield, Massachusetts, during the event, killing four people.
- 2011 – Space Shuttle Endeavour makes its final landing after 25 flights.
- 2015 – A ship carrying 458 people capsizes on Yangtze river in China’s Hubei province, killing 400 people.
Births on June 1
- 1134 – Geoffrey, Count of Nantes (d. 1158)
- 1300 – Thomas of Brotherton, 1st Earl of Norfolk, English politician, Lord Marshal of England (d. 1338)
- 1451 – Giles Daubeney, 1st Baron Daubeney (d. 1508)
- 1460 – Enno I, Count of East Frisia, German noble (d. 1491)
- 1480 – Tiedemann Giese, Polish bishop (d. 1550)
- 1498 – Maarten van Heemskerck, Dutch painter (d. 1574)
- 1522 – Dirck Volckertszoon Coornhert, Dutch writer and scholar (d. 1590)
- 1563 – Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, English politician, Secretary of State for England (d. 1612)
- 1612 – Frans Post, Dutch painter (d. 1680)
- 1633 – Geminiano Montanari, Italian astronomer and academic (d. 1687)
- 1637 – Jacques Marquette, French missionary and explorer (d. 1675)
- 1653 – Georg Muffat, French organist and composer (d. 1704)
- 1675 – Francesco Scipione, marchese di Maffei, Italian archaeologist and playwright (d. 1755)
- 1762 – Edmund Ignatius Rice, Irish priest and missionary, founded the Irish Christian Brothers (d. 1844)
- 1765 – Christiane Vulpius, mistress and wife of Johann Wolfgang Goethe (d. 1816)
- 1770 – Friedrich Laun, German author (d. 1849)
- 1790 – Ferdinand Raimund, Austrian actor and playwright (d. 1836)
- 1796 – Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot, French physicist and engineer (d. 1832)
- 1800 – Edward Deas Thomson, Australian educator and politician, Chief Secretary of New South Wales (d. 1879)
- 1801 – Brigham Young, American religious leader, 2nd President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (d. 1877)
- 1804 – Mikhail Glinka, Russian composer (d. 1857)
- 1808 – Henry Parker, English-Australian politician, 3rd Premier of New South Wales (d. 1881)
- 1815 – Otto of Greece (d. 1862)
- 1819 – Francis V, Duke of Modena (d. 1875)
- 1822 – Clementina Maude, Viscountess Hawarden, English portrait photographer (d. 1865)
- 1825 – John Hunt Morgan, American general (d. 1864)
- 1831 – John Bell Hood, American general (d. 1879)
- 1833 – John Marshall Harlan, American lawyer, judge, and politician, Attorney General of Kentucky (d. 1911)
- 1843 – Henry Faulds, Scottish physician and missionary, developed fingerprinting (d. 1930)
- 1844 – John J. Toffey, American lieutenant, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1911)
- 1869 – Richard Wünsch, German philologist (d. 1915)
- 1873 – Elena Alistar, Bessarabian politician (d. 1955)
- 1874 – Yury Nikolaevich Voronov, Russian botanist (d. 1931)
- 1878 – John Masefield, English author and poet (d. 1967)
- 1879 – Max Emmerich, American triathlete and gymnast (d. 1956)
- 1882 – Nicolae Bivol, Moldovan businessman and politician, Mayor of Chișinău (d. 1940)
- 1887 – Clive Brook, English actor (d. 1974)
- 1889 – James Daugherty, American author, illustrator, and painter (d. 1974)
- 1889 – Charles Kay Ogden, English linguist and philosopher (d. 1957)
- 1890 – Frank Morgan, American actor (d. 1949)
- 1892 – Amanullah Khan, sovereign of the Kingdom of Afghanistan, (d. 1960)
- 1899 – Edward Charles Titchmarsh, English mathematician and academic (d. 1963)
- 1901 – Hap Day, Canadian ice hockey player, referee, and manager (d. 1990)
- 1901 – Tom Gorman, Australian rugby league player (d. 1978)
- 1901 – John Van Druten, English-American playwright and director (d. 1957)
- 1903 – Vasyl Velychkovsky, Ukrainian-Canadian bishop and martyr (d. 1973)
- 1903 – Hans Vogt, Norwegian linguist and academic (d. 1986)
- 1905 – Robert Newton, English-American actor (d. 1956)
- 1907 – Jan Patočka, Czech philosopher (d. 1977)
- 1907 – Frank Whittle, English airman and engineer, developed the jet engine (d. 1996)
- 1908 – Julie Campbell Tatham, American author (d. 1999)
- 1909 – Yechezkel Kutscher, Slovakian-Israeli philologist and linguist (d. 1971)
- 1910 – Gyula Kállai, Hungarian communist leader, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the People’s Republic of Hungary (d. 1996)
- 1912 – Herbert Tichy, Austrian geologist, author, and mountaineer (d. 1987)
- 1913 – Bill Deedes, English journalist and politician (d. 2007)
- 1915 – John Randolph, American actor (d. 2004)
- 1916 – Jean Jérôme Hamer, Belgian Cardinal (d. 1996)
- 1917 – William Standish Knowles, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2012)
- 1920 – Robert Clarke, American actor and producer (d. 2005)
- 1921 – Nelson Riddle, American composer and bandleader (d. 1985)
- 1922 – Joan Caulfield, American model and actress (d. 1991)
- 1922 – Povel Ramel, Swedish singer-songwriter and pianist (d. 2007)
- 1924 – William Sloane Coffin, American minister and activist (d. 2006)
- 1925 – Dilia Díaz Cisneros, Venezuelan teacher (d. 2017)
- 1926 – Johnny Berry, English footballer (d. 1994)
- 1926 – Andy Griffith, American actor, singer, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2012)
- 1926 – Marilyn Monroe, American model and actress (d. 1962)
- 1926 – George Robb, English international footballer and teacher (d. 2011)
- 1926 – Richard Schweiker, American soldier and politician, 14th United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (d. 2015)
- 1928 – Georgy Dobrovolsky, Ukrainian pilot and astronaut (d. 1971)
- 1928 – Steve Dodd, Australian actor and composer (d. 2014)
- 1928 – Bob Monkhouse, English actor and screenwriter (d. 2003)
- 1929 – Nargis, Indian actress (d. 1981)<ref”>Dilip Kumar (28 July 2014). Dilip Kumar: The Substance and the Shadow. Hay House, Inc. p. 137. ISBN 978-93-81398-96-8.</ref>
- 1929 – James H. Billington, American academic and Thirteenth Librarian of Congress (d. 2018)
- 1930 – John Lemmon, English logician and philosopher (d. 1966)
- 1930 – Richard Levins, American ecologist and geneticist (d. 2016)
- 1930 – Matt Poore, New Zealand cricketer (d. 2020)
- 1930 – Edward Woodward, English actor (d. 2009)
- 1931 – Walter Horak, Austrian footballer (d. 2019)
- 1932 – Frank Cameron, New Zealand cricketer
- 1932 – Christopher Lasch, American historian and critic (d. 1994)
- 1933 – Haruo Remeliik, Palauan politician, 1st President of Palau (d. 1985)
- 1933 – Charles Wilson, American lieutenant and politician (d. 2010)
- 1934 – Pat Boone, American singer-songwriter and actor
- 1934 – Peter Masterson, American actor, director, producer and screenwriter (d. 2018)
- 1934 – Doris Buchanan Smith, American author (d. 2002)
- 1935 – Norman Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank, English architect, founded Foster and Partners
- 1935 – Reverend Ike, American minister and television host (d. 2009)
- 1935 – Jack Kralick, American baseball player (d. 2012)
- 1935 – Percy Adlon, German director, screenwriter and producer
- 1935 – John C. Reynolds, American computer scientist and academic (d. 2013)
- 1936 – Anatoly Albul, Soviet and Russian wrestler (d. 2013)
- 1936 – André Bourbeau, Canadian politician (d. 2018)
- 1936 – Bekim Fehmiu, Bosnian actor (d. 2010)
- 1936 – Gerald Scarfe, English illustrator and animator
- 1937 – Morgan Freeman, American actor and producer
- 1937 – Rosaleen Linehan, Irish actress
- 1937 – Colleen McCullough, Australian neuroscientist and author (d. 2015)
- 1939 – Cleavon Little, American actor and comedian (d. 1992)
- 1940 – René Auberjonois, American actor (d. 2019)
- 1940 – Katerina Gogou, Greek writer and actress (d. 1993)
- 1940 – Kip Thorne, American physicist, astronomer, and academic
- 1941 – Dean Chance, American baseball player and manager (d. 2015)
- 1941 – Toyo Ito, Japanese architect, designed the Torre Realia BCN and Hotel Porta Fira
- 1941 – Alexander V. Zakharov, Russian physicist and astronomer
- 1942 – Parveen Kumar, Pakistani-English physician and academic
- 1943 – Orietta Berti, Italian singer and actress
- 1943 – Richard Goode, American pianist
- 1943 – Lorrie Wilmot, South African cricketer (d. 2004)
- 1944 – Colin Blakemore, British neurobiologist
- 1944 – Robert Powell, English actor
- 1945 – Jim McCarty, American blues rock guitarist
- 1945 – Linda Scott, American singer
- 1945 – Lydia Shum, Chinese-Hong Kong actress (d. 2008)
- 1945 – Kerry Vincent, Australian chef and author
- 1945 – Frederica von Stade, American soprano and actress
- 1946 – Brian Cox, Scottish actor
- 1947 – Ron Dennis, English businessman, founded the McLaren Group
- 1947 – Jonathan Pryce, Welsh actor and singer
- 1947 – Ronnie Wood, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer
- 1948 – Powers Boothe, American actor (d. 2017)
- 1948 – Tomáš Halík, Czech Roman Catholic priest, philosopher, theologian and scholar
- 1948 – Michel Plasse, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2006)
- 1948 – Juhan Viiding, Estonian poet and actor (d. 1995)
- 1950 – Perrin Beatty, Canadian businessman and politician
- 1950 – Charlene, American singer-songwriter
- 1950 – Jean Lambert, English educator and politician
- 1950 – Michael McDowell, American author and screenwriter (d. 1999)
- 1952 – Şenol Güneş, Turkish footballer and manager
- 1952 – David Lan, South African-English director and playwright
- 1952 – Mihaela Loghin, Romanian shot putter
- 1953 – Ronnie Dunn, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1953 – Ted Field, American entrepreneur and race car driver
- 1954 – Jill Black, English lawyer and judge
- 1955 – Chiyonofuji Mitsugu, Japanese sumo wrestler (d. 2016)
- 1955 – Lorraine Moller, New Zealand runner
- 1955 – Tony Snow, American journalist, 26th White House Press Secretary (d. 2008)
- 1956 – Patrick Besson, French writer and journalist
- 1956 – Lisa Hartman Black, American actress
- 1956 – Petra Morsbach, German author
- 1958 – Nambaryn Enkhbayar, Mongolian lawyer and politician, 3rd President of Mongolia
- 1958 – Gennadiy Valyukevich, Belarusian triple jumper (d. 2019)
- 1959 – Martin Brundle, English racing driver and sportscaster
- 1959 – Alan Wilder, English singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer
- 1960 – Simon Gallup, English musician (The Cure)
- 1960 – Vladimir Krutov, Russian ice hockey player and coach (d. 2012)
- 1960 – Sergey Kuznetsov, Russian footballer and manager
- 1960 – Giorgos Lillikas, Cypriot politician, 8th Cypriot Minister of Foreign Affairs
- 1960 – Elena Mukhina, Russian gymnast (d. 2006)
- 1961 – Paul Coffey, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1961 – Mark Curry, American actor
- 1961 – Werner Günthör, Swiss shot putter and bobsledder
- 1961 – John Huston, American golfer
- 1961 – Peter Machajdík, Slovakian-German pianist and composer
- 1963 – Vital Borkelmans, Belgian footballer
- 1963 – Miles J. Padgett, Scottish physicist and academic
- 1963 – David Westhead, English actor and producer
- 1965 – Larisa Lazutina, Russian skier
- 1965 – Olga Nazarova, Russian sprinter
- 1965 – Nigel Short, English chess player and journalist
- 1966 – Greg Schiano, American football player and coach
- 1968 – Jason Donovan, Australian actor and singer
- 1968 – Jeff Hackett, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1968 – Mathias Rust, German aviator
- 1969 – Luis García Postigo, former Mexican footballer
- 1969 – Teri Polo, American actress
- 1970 – Georgie Gardner, Australian journalist and television host
- 1970 – Alexi Lalas, American soccer player, manager, and sportscaster
- 1971 – Mario Cimarro, Cuban-American actor and singer
- 1973 – Frédérik Deburghgraeve, Belgian swimmer
- 1973 – Adam Garcia, Australian actor
- 1973 – Derek Lowe, American baseball player
- 1973 – Heidi Klum, German-American model, fashion designer, and producer
- 1974 – Alanis Morissette, Canadian-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actress
- 1974 – Michael Rasmussen, Danish cyclist
- 1974 – Sarah Teather, English politician
- 1974 – Akis Zikos, Greek footballer and coach
- 1975 – Michal Grošek, Czech-Swiss ice hockey player and coach
- 1975 – Frauke Petry, German politician
- 1975 – Ēriks Rags, Latvian javelin thrower
- 1976 – Marlon Devonish, English sprinter and coach
- 1976 – Kōhei Murakami, Japanese actor
- 1977 – Andrea Bogart, American actress
- 1977 – Arsen Gitinov, Russian and Kyrgyzstani freestyle wrestler
- 1977 – Danielle Harris, American actress
- 1977 – Brad Wilkerson, American baseball player and coach
- 1977 – Sarah Wayne Callies, American actress
- 1978 – Antonietta Di Martino, Italian high jumper
- 1978 – Matthew Hittinger, American poet and author
- 1979 – Santana Moss, American football player
- 1979 – Markus Persson, Swedish game designer, founded Mojang
- 1981 – Brandi Carlile, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1981 – Amy Schumer, American actress
- 1981 – Carlos Zambrano, Venezuelan-American baseball player
- 1981 – Aleksei Mikhailovich Uvarov, Russian footballer
- 1982 – Justine Henin, Belgian tennis player
- 1983 – Tetyana Hamera-Shmyrko, Ukrainian runner
- 1983 – Tõnis Sahk, Estonian long jumper
- 1984 – Jean Beausejour, Chilean footballer
- 1984 – Olivier Tielemans, Dutch racing driver
- 1985 – Tirunesh Dibaba, Ethiopian runner
- 1985 – Mário Hipólito, Angolan footballer
- 1985 – Dinesh Karthik, Indian cricketer
- 1985 – Nick Young, American basketball player
- 1985 – Sam Young, American basketball player
- 1986 – Moses Ndiema Masai, Kenyan runner
- 1986 – Chinedu Obasi, Nigerian footballer
- 1986 – Ben Smith, New Zealand rugby player
- 1987 – Zoltán Harsányi, Slovakian footballer
- 1987 – Jerel McNeal, American basketball player
- 1987 – Yarisley Silva, Cuban pole vaulter
- 1988 – Javier Hernández, Mexican footballer
- 1989 – Nataliya Goncharova, Ukrainian/Russian volleyball player
- 1989 – Sammy Alex Mutahi, Kenyan runner
- 1990 – Miller Bolaños, Ecuadoran footballer
- 1990 – Kennie Chopart, Danish footballer
- 1990 – Carlota Ciganda, Spanish golfer
- 1990 – Martin Pembleton, English footballer
- 1990 – Bianca Perie, Romanian hammer thrower
- 1991 – Tyrone Roberts, Australian rugby league player
- 1993 – Sam Anas, American ice hockey player
- 1994 – Kagayaki Taishi, Japanese sumo wrestler
- 1996 – Edvinas Gertmonas, Lithuanian footballer
- 1996 – Tom Holland, English actor
- 1999 – Dmitri Aliev, Russian figure skater
Deaths on June 1
- 195 BC – Emperor Gaozu of Han (b. 256 BC)
- 193 – Didius Julianus, Roman Emperor (b. 133)
- 352 – Ran Min, “Heavenly Prince” (Tian Wang) during the Sixteen Kingdoms
- 654 – Pyrrhus, patriarch of Constantinople
- 829 – Li Tongjie, general of the Tang Dynasty
- 847 – Xiao, empress of the Tang Dynasty
- 896 – Theodosius Romanus, Syriac Orthodox patriarch of Antioch
- 932 – Thietmar, duke of Saxony
- 1146 – Ermengarde of Anjou, Duchess regent of Brittany (b. 1068)
- 1186 – Minamoto no Yukiie, Japanese warlord
- 1220 – Henry de Bohun, 1st Earl of Hereford (b. 1176)
- 1310 – Marguerite Porete, French mystic
- 1354 – Kitabatake Chikafusa (b. 1293)
- 1434 – King Wladislaus II of Poland
- 1571 – John Story, English martyr (b. 1504)
- 1616 – Tokugawa Ieyasu, Japanese shogun (b. 1543)
- 1625 – Honoré d’Urfé, French author and poet (b. 1568)
- 1639 – Melchior Franck, German composer (b. 1579)
- 1660 – Mary Dyer, English-American martyr (b. 1611)
- 1662 – Zhu Youlang, Chinese emperor (b. 1623)
- 1681 – Cornelis Saftleven, Dutch genre painter (b. 1607)
- 1710 – David Mitchell, Scottish admiral and politician (b. 1642)
- 1740 – Samuel Werenfels, Swiss theologian (b. 1657)
- 1769 – Edward Holyoke, American pastor and academic (b. 1689)
- 1773 – Wolraad Woltemade, South African folk hero (b. 1708)
- 1795 – Pierre-Joseph Desault, French anatomist and surgeon (b. 1744)
- 1815 – Louis-Alexandre Berthier, French general and politician, French Minister of War (b. 1753)
- 1823 – Louis-Nicolas Davout, French general and politician, French Minister of War (b. 1770)
- 1826 – J. F. Oberlin, French pastor and philanthropist (b. 1740)
- 1830 – Swaminarayan, Indian religious leader (b. 1781)
- 1833 – Oliver Wolcott Jr., American lawyer and politician, 2nd United States Secretary of the Treasury, 24th Governor of Connecticut (b. 1760)
- 1841 – David Wilkie, Scottish painter and academic (b. 1785)
- 1846 – Pope Gregory XVI (b. 1765)
- 1861 – John Quincy Marr, American captain (b. 1825)
- 1864 – Hong Xiuquan, Chinese rebel, led the Taiping Rebellion (b. 1812)
- 1868 – James Buchanan, American lawyer and politician, 15th President of the United States (b. 1791)
- 1872 – James Gordon Bennett, Sr., American publisher, founded the New York Herald (b. 1795)
- 1873 – Joseph Howe, Canadian journalist and politician, 5th Premier of Nova Scotia (b. 1804)
- 1876 – Hristo Botev, Bulgarian poet and journalist (b. 1848)
- 1879 – Napoléon, Prince Imperial of France (b. 1856)
- 1908 – Allen Butler Talcott, American painter (b. 1867)
- 1927 – Lizzie Borden, American accused murderer (b. 1860)
- 1927 – J. B. Bury, Irish historian, philologist, and scholar (b. 1861)
- 1934 – Sir Alfred Rawlinson, 3rd Baronet, English colonel and polo player (b. 1867)
- 1935 – Arthur Arz von Straußenburg, Romanian-Hungarian general (d. 1857)
- 1938 – Ödön von Horváth, Croatian-French author and playwright (b. 1901)
- 1941 – Hans Berger, German neurologist and academic (b. 1873)
- 1941 – Hugh Walpole, New Zealand-English author (b. 1884)
- 1943 – Leslie Howard, English actor, director, and producer (b. 1893)
- 1943 – Wilfrid Israel, English-German businessman and philanthropist (b. 1899)
- 1946 – Ion Antonescu, Romanian marshal and politician, 43rd Prime Minister of Romania (b. 1882)
- 1948 – Alex Gard, Russian-American cartoonist (b. 1900)
- 1952 – John Dewey, American psychologist and philosopher (b. 1859)
- 1953 – Emanuel Vidović, Croatian painter and illustrator (b. 1870)
- 1954 – Martin Andersen Nexø, Danish-German journalist and author (b. 1869)
- 1960 – Lester Patrick, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1883)
- 1960 – Paula Hitler, German-Austrian sister of Adolf Hitler (b. 1896)
- 1962 – Adolf Eichmann, a German Nazi SS-Obersturmbannführer (b. 1906)
- 1963 – Walter Lee, Australian politician, 24th Premier of Tasmania (b. 1874)
- 1965 – Curly Lambeau, American football player and coach, founded the Green Bay Packers (b. 1898)
- 1966 – Papa Jack Laine, American drummer and bandleader (b. 1873)
- 1968 – Helen Keller, American author and activist (b. 1880)
- 1968 – André Laurendeau, Canadian playwright, journalist, and politician (b. 1912)
- 1969 – Ivar Ballangrud, Norwegian speed skater (b. 1904)
- 1971 – Reinhold Niebuhr, American theologian and academic (b. 1892)
- 1979 – Werner Forssmann, German physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)
- 1980 – Arthur Nielsen, American businessman, founded the ACNielsen company (b. 1897)
- 1981 – Carl Vinson, American lawyer and politician (b. 1883)
- 1983 – Prince Charles, Count of Flanders (b. 1903)
- 1985 – Richard Greene, English actor and soldier (b. 1918)
- 1986 – Jo Gartner, Austrian racing driver (b. 1958)
- 1987 – Rashid Karami, Lebanese lawyer and politician, 32nd Prime Minister of Lebanon (b. 1921)
- 1988 – Herbert Feigl, Austrian philosopher from the Vienna Circle (b. 1902)
- 1989 – Aurelio Lampredi, Italian engineer, designed the Ferrari Lampredi engine (b. 1917)
- 1991 – David Ruffin, American singer-songwriter (b. 1941)
- 1996 – Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, Indian politician, 6th President of India (b. 1913)
- 1999 – Christopher Cockerell, English engineer, invented the hovercraft (b. 1910)
- 2000 – Tito Puente, American drummer, composer, and producer (b. 1923)
- 2001 – Hank Ketcham, American cartoonist, created Dennis the Menace (b. 1920)
- 2001 – notable victims of the Nepalese royal massacre
- Aishwarya of Nepal (b. 1949)
- Birendra of Nepal (b. 1945)
- Dhirendra of Nepal (b. 1950)
- Prince Nirajan of Nepal (b. 1978)
- Princess Shruti of Nepal (b. 1976)
- 2002 – Hansie Cronje, South African cricketer (b. 1969)
- 2004 – William Manchester, American historian and author (b. 1922)
- 2005 – Hilda Crosby Standish, American physician (b. 1902)
- 2005 – George Mikan, American basketball player and coach (b. 1924)
- 2006 – Rocío Jurado, Spanish singer and actress (b. 1944)
- 2007 – Tony Thompson, American singer and songwriter (Hi-Five) (b. 1975)
- 2008 – Tommy Lapid, Israeli journalist and politician, 17th Justice Minister of Israel (b. 1931)
- 2008 – Yves Saint Laurent, French fashion designer, founded Saint Laurent Paris (b. 1936)
- 2009 – Bob Christie, American race car driver (b. 1924)
- 2009 – Vincent O’Brien, Irish horse trainer (b. 1917)
- 2010 – Kazuo Ohno, Japanese dancer (b. 1906)
- 2010 – Andrei Voznesensky, Russian poet (b. 1933)
- 2011 – Haleh Sahabi, Iranian humanitarian and activist (b. 1957)
- 2012 – Faruq Z. Bey, American saxophonist and composer (b. 1942)
- 2012 – Pádraig Faulkner, Irish educator and politician, 19th Irish Minister of Defence (b. 1918)
- 2012 – Milan Gaľa, Slovak politician (b. 1953)
- 2013 – James Kelleher, Canadian lawyer and politician, 33rd Solicitor General of Canada (b. 1930)
- 2014 – Ann B. Davis, American actress (b. 1926)
- 2014 – Valentin Mankin, Ukrainian sailor (b. 1938)
- 2015 – Charles Kennedy, Scottish journalist and politician (b. 1959)
- 2015 – Joan Kirner, Australian educator and politician, 42nd Premier of Victoria (b. 1938)
- 2015 – Nicholas Liverpool, Dominican lawyer and politician, 6th President of Dominica (b. 1934)
- 2015 – Jacques Parizeau, Canadian economist and politician, 26th Premier of Quebec (b. 1930)
- 2015 – Jean Ritchie, American singer-songwriter (b. 1922)
- 2018 – Sinan Sakić, Serbian pop-folk singer (b. 1956)
- 2019 – Ani Yudhoyono, Indonesian politician, 6th First Lady of Indonesia. (b. 1952)
Holidays and observances on June 1
- Children’s Day (International), and its related observances:
- The Day of Protection of Children Rights (Armenia)
- Mothers’ and Children’s Day (Mongolia)
- Christian feast day:
- Annibale Maria di Francia
- Crescentinus
- Fortunatus of Spoleto
- Herculanus of Piegaro
- Íñigo of Oña
- Justin Martyr (Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, Lutheran)
- Ronan of Locronan
- June 1 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Earliest day on which Canadian Forces Day can fall, while June 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Sunday in June. (Canada)
- Earliest day on which Father’s Day can fall, while June 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Sunday in June. (Lithuania)
- Earliest day on which June Holiday can fall, while June 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Monday in June. (Ireland)
- Earliest day on which Labour Day can fall, while June 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Friday in June. (The Bahamas)
- Earliest day on which Teacher’s Day can fall, while June 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Sunday in June. (Hungary)
- Earliest day on which the Queen’s Birthday can fall, while June 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Monday in June. (New Zealand, Cook Islands, Fiji)
- Earliest day on which Seamen’s Day can fall, while June 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Sunday in June. (Iceland)
- Earliest day on which Western Australia Day can fall, while June 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Sunday in June. (Western Australia)
- Global Day of Parents (International)
- Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Samoa from New Zealand in 1962.
- Madaraka Day (Kenya)
- National Maritime Day (Mexico)
- National Tree Planting Day (Cambodia)
- Pancasila Day (Indonesia)
- President’s Day (Palau)
- The beginning of Crop over, celebrated until the first Monday of August. (Barbados)
- Victory Day (Tunisia)
- World Milk Day (International)
-
May 31 in History
- 455 – Emperor Petronius Maximus is stoned to death by an angry mob while fleeing Rome.
- 1223 – Mongol invasion of the Cumans: Battle of the Kalka River: Mongol armies of Genghis Khan led by Subutai defeat Kievan Rus’ and Cumans.
- 1293 – Mongol invasion of Java was a punitive expedition against King Kertanegara of Singhasari, who had refused to pay tribute to the Yuan and maimed one of its ministers. However, it ended with failure for the Mongols. Regarded as establish City of Surabaya
- 1578 – King Henry III lays the first stone of the Pont Neuf (New Bridge), the oldest bridge of Paris, France.
- 1669 – Citing poor eyesight as a reason, Samuel Pepys records the last event in his diary.
- 1775 – American Revolution: The Mecklenburg Resolves are adopted in the Province of North Carolina.
- 1790 – Manuel Quimper explores the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
- 1790 – The United States enacts its first copyright statute, the Copyright Act of 1790.
- 1795 – French Revolution: The Revolutionary Tribunal is suppressed.
- 1805 – French and Spanish forces begin the assault against British forces occupying Diamond Rock.
- 1813 – In Australia, William Lawson, Gregory Blaxland and William Wentworth reach Mount Blaxland, effectively marking the end of a route across the Blue Mountains.
- 1859 – The clock tower at the Houses of Parliament, which houses Big Ben, starts keeping time.
- 1862 – American Civil War: Peninsula Campaign: Confederate forces under Joseph E. Johnston and G.W. Smith engage Union forces under George B. McClellan outside Richmond, Virginia.
- 1864 – American Civil War: Overland Campaign: Battle of Cold Harbor: The Army of Northern Virginia engages the Army of the Potomac.
- 1879 – Gilmore’s Garden in New York City is renamed Madison Square Garden by William Henry Vanderbilt and is opened to the public at 26th Street and Madison Avenue.
- 1884 – The arrival at Plymouth of Tāwhiao, King of Maoris, to claim the protection of Queen Victoria.
- 1889 – Johnstown Flood: Over 2,200 people die after a dam fails and sends a 60-foot (18-meter) wall of water over the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
- 1902 – Second Boer War: The Treaty of Vereeniging ends the war and ensures British control of South Africa.
- 1909 – The National Negro Committee, forerunner to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), convenes for the first time.
- 1910 – The South Africa Act comes into force, establishing the Union of South Africa.
- 1911 – The RMS Titanic is launched in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
- 1911 – The President of Mexico Porfirio Díaz flees the country during the Mexican Revolution.
- 1916 – World War I: Battle of Jutland: The British Grand Fleet engages the High Seas Fleet in the largest naval battle of the war, which proves indecisive.
- 1921 – The Tulsa race massacre kills at least 39, but other estimates of black fatalities vary from 55 to about 300.
- 1935 – A 7.7 Mw earthquake destroys Quetta in modern-day Pakistan killing 40,000.
- 1941 – Anglo-Iraqi War: The United Kingdom completes the re-occupation of Iraq and returns ‘Abd al-Ilah to power as regent for Faisal II.
- 1942 – World War II: Imperial Japanese Navy midget submarines begin a series of attacks on Sydney, Australia.
- 1947 – Ferenc Nagy, the democratically elected Prime Minister of Hungary, resigns from office after blackmail from the Hungarian Communist Party accusing him of being part of a plot against the state. This grants the Communists effective control of the Hungarian government.
- 1961 – The South African Constitution of 1961 becomes effective, thus creating the Republic of South Africa, which remains outside the Commonwealth of Nations until 1 June 1994, when South Africa is returned to Commonwealth membership.
- 1961 – In Moscow City Court, the Rokotov–Faibishenko show trial begins, despite the Khrushchev Thaw to reverse Stalinist elements in Soviet society.
- 1962 – The West Indies Federation dissolves.
- 1970 – The 7.9 Mw Ancash earthquake shakes Peru with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe) and a landslide buries the town of Yungay, Peru. Between 66,794–70,000 were killed and 50,000 were injured.
- 1971 – In accordance with the Uniform Monday Holiday Act passed by the U.S. Congress in 1968, observation of Memorial Day occurs on the last Monday in May for the first time, rather than on the traditional Memorial Day of May 30.
- 1973 – The United States Senate votes to cut off funding for the bombing of Khmer Rouge targets within Cambodia, hastening the end of the Cambodian Civil War.
- 1977 – The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System is completed.
- 1985 – United States–Canada tornado outbreak: Forty-one tornadoes hit Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ontario, leaving 76 dead.
- 1991 – Bicesse Accords in Angola lay out a transition to multi-party democracy under the supervision of the United Nations’ UNAVEM II mission.
- 2005 – Vanity Fair reveals that Mark Felt was “Deep Throat”.
- 2008 – Usain Bolt breaks the world record in the 100m sprint, with a wind-legal (+1.7 m/s) 9.72 seconds
- 2010 – Israeli Shayetet 13 commandos boarded the Gaza Freedom Flotilla while still in international waters trying to break the ongoing blockade of the Gaza Strip; nine Turkish citizens on the flotilla were killed in the ensuing violent affray.
- 2013 – The asteroid 1998 QE2 and its moon make their closest approach to Earth for the next two centuries.
- 2013 – A record breaking 2.6 mile wide tornado strikes El Reno, Oklahoma, United States, causing eight fatalities and over 150 injuries.
- 2017 – A car bomb explodes in a crowded intersection in Kabul near the German embassy during rush hour, killing over 90 and injuring 463.
- 2017 – U.S. President Donald Trump tweets the word “covfefe” and quickly becomes a worldwide viral phenomenon.
- 2019 – A shooting occurs inside a municipal building at Virginia Beach, Virginia, leaving 13 people dead, including the shooter, and four others injured.
Births on May 31
- 1443 (or 1441) – Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby (d. 1509)
- 1462 – Philipp II, Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg (d. 1504)
- 1469 – Manuel I of Portugal (d. 1521)
- 1535 – Alessandro Allori, Italian painter (d. 1607)
- 1556 – Jerzy Radziwiłł, Catholic cardinal (d. 1600)
- 1577 – Nur Jahan, Empress consort of the Mughal Empire (d. 1645)
- 1613 – John George II, Elector of Saxony (d. 1680)
- 1640 – Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki, King of Poland (d. 1673)
- 1641 – Patriarch Dositheos II of Jerusalem (d. 1707)
- 1725 – Ahilyabai Holkar, Queen of the Malwa Kingdom under the Maratha Empire (d. 1795)
- 1732 – Count Hieronymus von Colloredo, Austrian archbishop (d. 1812)
- 1753 – Pierre Victurnien Vergniaud, French lawyer and politician (d. 1793)
- 1754 – Andrea Appiani, Italian painter and educator (d. 1817)
- 1773 – Ludwig Tieck, German poet, author, and critic (d. 1853)
- 1801 – Johann Georg Baiter, Swiss philologist and scholar (d. 1887)
- 1815 – Adye Douglas, English-Australian cricketer and politician, 15th Premier of Tasmania (d. 1906)
- 1818 – John Albion Andrew, American lawyer and politician, 25th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1867)
- 1819 – Walt Whitman, American poet, essayist, and journalist (d. 1892)
- 1827 – Kusumoto Ine, first Japanese female doctor of Western medicine (d. 1903)
- 1835 – Hijikata Toshizō, Japanese commander (d. 1869)
- 1838 – Henry Sidgwick, English economist and philosopher (d. 1900)
- 1842 – John Cox Bray, Australian politician, 15th Premier of South Australia (d. 1894)
- 1847 – William Pirrie, 1st Viscount Pirrie, Canadian-Irish businessman and politician, Lord Mayor of Belfast (d. 1924)
- 1852 – Francisco Moreno, Argentinian explorer and academic (d. 1919)
- 1852 – Julius Richard Petri, German microbiologist, invented the Petri dish (d. 1921)
- 1857 – Pope Pius XI (d. 1939)
- 1858 – Graham Wallas, English socialist, social psychologist, and educationalist (d. 1932)
- 1860 – Walter Sickert, English painter (d. 1942)
- 1863 – Francis Younghusband, Indian-English captain and explorer (d. 1942)
- 1866 – John Ringling, American entrepreneur; one of the founders of the Ringling Brothers Circus (d. 1936)
- 1875 – Rosa May Billinghurst, British suffragette and women’s rights activist (d.1953)
- 1879 – Frances Alda, New Zealand-Australian soprano (d. 1952)
- 1882 – Sándor Festetics, Hungarian politician, Hungarian Minister of War (d. 1956)
- 1883 – Lauri Kristian Relander, Finnish politician, 2nd President of Finland (d. 1942)
- 1885 – Robert Richards, Australian politician, 32nd Premier of South Australia (d. 1967)
- 1887 – Saint-John Perse, French poet and diplomat, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1975)
- 1892 – Michel Kikoine, Belarusian-French painter (d. 1968)
- 1892 – Erich Neumann, German lieutenant and politician (d. 1951)
- 1892 – Konstantin Paustovsky, Russian poet and author (d. 1968)
- 1892 – Gregor Strasser, German lieutenant and politician (d. 1934)
- 1894 – Fred Allen, American comedian, radio host, game show panelist, and author (d. 1956)
- 1898 – Norman Vincent Peale, American minister and author (d. 1993)
- 1900 – Lucile Godbold, American Olympic athlete (d. 1981)
- 1901 – Alfredo Antonini, Italian-American conductor and composer (d. 1983)
- 1908 – Don Ameche, American actor (d. 1993)
- 1909 – Art Coulter, Canadian-American ice hockey player (d. 2000)
- 1911 – Maurice Allais, French economist and physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2010)
- 1912 – Chien-Shiung Wu, Chinese-American experimental physicist (d. 1997)
- 1914 – Akira Ifukube, Japanese composer and educator (d. 2006)
- 1916 – Bert Haanstra, Dutch director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1997)
- 1918 – Robert Osterloh, American actor (d. 2001)
- 1918 – Lloyd Quarterman, African American chemist (d. 1982)
- 1919 – Robie Macauley, American editor, novelist and critic (d. 1995)
- 1921 – Edna Doré, English actress (d. 2014)
- 1921 – Andrew Grima, Anglo-Italian jewellery designer (d. 2007)
- 1921 – Howard Reig, American radio and television announcer (d. 2008)
- 1921 – Alida Valli, Austrian-Italian actress and singer (d. 2006)
- 1922 – Denholm Elliott, English-Spanish actor (d. 1992)
- 1923 – Ellsworth Kelly, American painter and sculptor (d. 2015)
- 1923 – Rainier III, Prince of Monaco (d. 2005)
- 1925 – Julian Beck, American actor and director (d. 1986)
- 1927 – James Eberle, English admiral (d. 2018)
- 1927 – Michael Sandberg, Baron Sandberg, English lieutenant and banker (d. 2017)
- 1928 – Pankaj Roy, Indian cricketer (d. 2001)
- 1929 – Menahem Golan, Israeli director and producer (d. 2014)
- 1930 – Clint Eastwood, American actor, director, musician, and producer
- 1931 – John Robert Schrieffer, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2019)
- 1931 – Shirley Verrett, American soprano and actress (d. 2010)
- 1932 – Ed Lincoln, Brazilian pianist, bassist, and composer (d. 2012)
- 1932 – Jay Miner, American computer scientist and engineer (d. 1994)
- 1933 – Henry B. Eyring, American religious leader, educator, and author
- 1934 – Jim Hutton, American actor (d. 1979)
- 1935 – Jim Bolger, New Zealand businessman and politician, 35th Prime Minister of New Zealand
- 1938 – Johnny Paycheck, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2003)
- 1938 – John Prescott, British sailor and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
- 1938 – Peter Yarrow, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1939 – Terry Waite, English humanitarian and author
- 1940 – Anatoliy Bondarchuk, Ukrainian hammer thrower and coach
- 1940 – Augie Meyers, American musician and singer-songwriter
- 1940 – Gilbert Shelton, American illustrator
- 1941 – June Clark, Welsh nurse and educator
- 1941 – Louis Ignarro, American pharmacologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1941 – William Nordhaus, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1943 – Sharon Gless, American actress
- 1943 – Joe Namath, American football player, sportscaster, and actor
- 1945 – Rainer Werner Fassbinder, German actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 1982)
- 1945 – Laurent Gbagbo, Ivorian academic and politician, 4th President of Côte d’Ivoire
- 1945 – Bernard Goldberg, American journalist and author
- 1946 – Ted Baehr, American publisher and critic
- 1946 – Steve Bucknor, Jamaican cricketer and umpire
- 1946 – Krista Kilvet, Estonian journalist, politician, and diplomat (d. 2009)
- 1946 – Debbie Moore, English model and businesswoman
- 1947 – Junior Campbell, Scottish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1947 – Gabriele Hinzmann, German discus thrower
- 1948 – Svetlana Alexievich, Belarusian journalist and author, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1948 – John Bonham, English musician, songwriter and drummer (d. 1980)
- 1948 – Martin Hannett, English bass player, guitarist, and record producer (d. 1991)
- 1948 – Duncan Hunter, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician
- 1949 – Tom Berenger, American actor, film producer and television writer
- 1950 – Jean Chalopin, French director, producer, and screenwriter, founded DIC Entertainment
- 1950 – Gregory Harrison, American actor
- 1950 – Edgar Savisaar, Estonian politician, Estonian Minister of the Interior
- 1951 – Karl-Hans Riehm, German hammer thrower
- 1952 – Karl Bartos, German singer-songwriter and keyboard player
- 1953 – Pirkka-Pekka Petelius, Finnish actor and screenwriter
- 1954 – Thomas Mavros, Greek footballer
- 1954 – Vicki Sue Robinson, American actress and singer (d. 2000)
- 1955 – Tommy Emmanuel, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1955 – Susie Essman, American actress, comedian, and screenwriter
- 1956 – Fritz Hilpert, German drummer and composer
- 1956 – John Young, English singer-songwriter and keyboard player
- 1957 – Jim Craig, American ice hockey player
- 1959 – Andrea de Cesaris, Italian racing driver (d. 2014)
- 1959 – Phil Wilson, English politician
- 1960 – Greg Adams, Canadian ice hockey player and businessman
- 1960 – Chris Elliott, American actor, comedian, and screenwriter
- 1960 – Peter Winterbottom, English rugby player
- 1961 – Ray Cote, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1961 – Justin Madden, Australian footballer and politician
- 1961 – Lea Thompson, American actress, director, and producer
- 1962 – Corey Hart, Canadian singer-songwriter and producer
- 1963 – David Leigh, holder of the Sir Samuel Hall Chair of Chemistry at the University of Manchester
- 1963 – Viktor Orbán, Hungarian politician, 38th Prime Minister of Hungary
- 1963 – Wesley Willis, American singer-songwriter and keyboard player (d. 2003)
- 1964 – Leonard Asper, Canadian lawyer and businessman
- 1964 – Stéphane Caristan, French hurdler and coach
- 1964 – Yukio Edano, Japanese politician, Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs
- 1964 – Darryl “D.M.C.” McDaniels, American rapper and producer
- 1965 – Brooke Shields, American model, actress, and producer
- 1966 – Roshan Mahanama, Sri Lankan cricketer and referee
- 1967 – Phil Keoghan, New Zealand television host and producer
- 1967 – Kenny Lofton, American baseball player, coach, and sportscaster
- 1971 – Arun Luthra, Indo-Anglo-American saxophonist, konnakol artist, composer, and arranger
- 1972 – Christian McBride, American bassist and record producer
- 1972 – Archie Panjabi, Indo-British actress
- 1972 – Frode Estil, Norwegian skier
- 1972 – Antti Niemi, Finnish international footballer, goalkeeper and coach
- 1972 – Dave Roberts, American baseball player and coach
- 1974 – Hiroiki Ariyoshi, Japanese comedian and singer
- 1974 – Chad Campbell, American golfer
- 1975 – Mac Suzuki, Japanese baseball player
- 1976 – Colin Farrell, Irish actor
- 1976 – Matt Harpring, American basketball player and sportscaster
- 1977 – Theodoros Baev, Bulgarian-Greek volleyball player
- 1977 – Domenico Fioravanti, Italian swimmer
- 1977 – Eric Christian Olsen, American actor
- 1977 – Moses Sichone, Zambian footballer
- 1977 – Petr Tenkrát, Czech ice hockey player
- 1979 – Jean-François Gillet, Belgian footballer
- 1981 – Mikael Antonsson, Swedish footballer
- 1981 – Daniele Bonera, Italian footballer
- 1981 – Jake Peavy, American baseball player
- 1981 – Marlies Schild, Austrian skier
- 1984 – Andrew Bailey, American baseball player
- 1984 – Milorad Čavić, Serbian swimmer
- 1984 – Nate Robinson, American basketball player
- 1985 – Jordy Nelson, American football player
- 1986 – Robert Gesink, Dutch cyclist
- 1989 – Marco Reus, German footballer
- 1990 – Erik Karlsson, Swedish ice hockey player
- 1992 – Michaël Bournival, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1992 – Laura Ikauniece, Latvian heptathlete
- 1996 – Normani Korde, American singer
- 1998 – Santino Ferrucci, American race car driver
Deaths on May 31
- 455 – Petronius Maximus, Roman emperor (b. 396)
- 930 – Liu Hua, princess of Southern Han (b. 896)
- 960 – Fujiwara no Morosuke, Japanese statesman (b. 909)
- 1076 – Waltheof, Earl of Northumbria, English politician (b. 1050)
- 1089 – Sigwin von Are, archbishop of Cologne
- 1162 – Géza II, king of Hungary (b. 1130)
- 1321 – Birger, king of Sweden (b. 1280)
- 1326 – Maurice de Berkeley, 2nd Baron Berkeley (b. 1271)
- 1329 – Albertino Mussato, Italian statesman and writer (b. 1261)
- 1349 – Thomas Wake, English politician (b. 1297)
- 1370 – Vitalis of Assisi, Italian hermit and monk (b. 1295)
- 1408 – Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, Japanese shōgun (b. 1358)
- 1410 – Martin of Aragon, Spanish king (b. 1356)
- 1504 – Engelbert II of Nassau (b. 1451)
- 1558 – Philip Hoby, English general and diplomat (b. 1505)
- 1567 – Guido de Bres, Belgian pastor and theologian (b. 1522)
- 1594 – Tintoretto, Italian painter and educator (b. 1518)
- 1601 – Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg, Archbishop-Elector of Cologne (b. 1547)
- 1640 – Zeynab Begum, Safavid princess (date of birth unknown)
- 1665 – Pieter Jansz. Saenredam, Dutch painter (b. 1597)
- 1680 – Joachim Neander, German theologian and educator (b. 1650)
- 1740 – Frederick William I of Prussia (b. 1688)
- 1747 – Andrey Osterman, German-Russian politician, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1686)
- 1809 – Joseph Haydn, Austrian pianist and composer (b. 1732)
- 1809 – Jean Lannes, French general (b. 1769)
- 1831 – Samuel Bentham, English architect and engineer (b. 1757)
- 1832 – Évariste Galois, French mathematician and theorist (b. 1811)
- 1837 – Joseph Grimaldi, English actor, comedian and dancer, (b. 1779)
- 1846 – Philip Marheineke, German pastor and philosopher (b. 1780)
- 1847 – Thomas Chalmers, Scottish minister and economist (b. 1780)
- 1848 – Eugénie de Guérin, French author (b. 1805)
- 1899 – Stefanos Koumanoudis, Greek archaeologist, teacher and writer (b. 1818)
- 1908 – Louis-Honoré Fréchette, Canadian author, poet, and politician (b. 1839)
- 1909 – Thomas Price, Welsh-Australian politician, 24th Premier of South Australia (b. 1852)
- 1910 – Elizabeth Blackwell, English-American physician and educator (b. 1821)
- 1931 – Felix-Raymond-Marie Rouleau, Canadian cardinal (b. 1866)
- 1931 – Willy Stöwer, German author and illustrator (b. 1864)
- 1945 – Odilo Globocnik, Italian-Austrian SS officer (b. 1904)
- 1954 – Antonis Benakis, Greek art collector and philanthropist, founded the Benaki Museum (b. 1873)
- 1957 – Stefanos Sarafis, Greek general and politician (b. 1890)
- 1957 – Leopold Staff, Polish poet and academic (b. 1878)
- 1960 – Willem Elsschot, Flemish author and poet (b. 1882)
- 1960 – Walther Funk, German economist, journalist, and politician, German Minister of Economics (b. 1890)
- 1962 – Henry F. Ashurst, American lawyer and politician (b. 1874)
- 1967 – Billy Strayhorn, American pianist and composer (b. 1915)
- 1970 – Terry Sawchuk, Canadian-American ice hockey player (b. 1929)
- 1976 – Jacques Monod, French biologist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1910)
- 1977 – William Castle, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1914)
- 1978 – József Bozsik, Hungarian footballer and manager (b. 1925)
- 1981 – Barbara Ward, Baroness Jackson of Lodsworth, English economist and journalist (b. 1914)
- 1982 – Carlo Mauri, Italian mountaineer and explorer (b. 1930)
- 1983 – Jack Dempsey, American boxer and lieutenant (b. 1895)
- 1985 – Gaston Rébuffat, French mountaineer and author (b. 1921)
- 1986 – Jane Frank, American painter and sculptor (b. 1918)
- 1986 – James Rainwater, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1917)
- 1987 – John Abraham, Indian director and screenwriter (b. 1937)
- 1989 – Owen Lattimore, American author and academic (b. 1900)
- 1989 – C. L. R. James, Trinidadian journalist and historian (b. 1901)
- 1993 – Honey Tree Evil Eye, or, Spud Mackenzie, a Bull Terrier, dies of kidney failure.
- 1994 – Uzay Heparı, Turkish actor, producer, and composer (b. 1969)
- 1994 – Herva Nelli, Italian-American soprano (b. 1909)
- 1995 – Stanley Elkin, American novelist, short story writer, and essayist (b. 1930)
- 1996 – Timothy Leary, American psychologist and author (b. 1920)
- 1998 – Charles Van Acker, Belgian-American race car driver (b. 1912)
- 2000 – Petar Mladenov, Bulgarian diplomat, 1st President of Bulgaria (b. 1936)
- 2000 – Tito Puente, American jazz musician (b. 1923)
- 2000 – A. Jeyaratnam Wilson, Sri Lankan historian, author, and academic (b. 1928)
- 2001 – Arlene Francis, American actress, talk show host, game show panelist, and television personality (b. 1907)
- 2002 – Subhash Gupte, Indian cricketer (b. 1929)
- 2004 – Aiyathurai Nadesan, Sri Lankan journalist (b. 1954)
- 2004 – Robert Quine, American guitarist (b. 1941)
- 2004 – Étienne Roda-Gil, French screenwriter and composer (b. 1941)
- 2006 – Miguel Ortiz Berrocal, Spanish sculptor (b. 1933)
- 2006 – Raymond Davis, Jr., American physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1914)
- 2009 – Danny La Rue, Irish-British drag queen performer and singer (b. 1927)
- 2009 – George Tiller, American physician (b. 1941)
- 2010 – Louise Bourgeois, French-American sculptor and painter (b. 1911)
- 2010 – Brian Duffy, English photographer and producer (b. 1933)
- 2010 – William A. Fraker, American director, producer, and cinematographer (b. 1923)
- 2010 – Rubén Juárez, Argentinian singer-songwriter and bandoneón player (b. 1947)
- 2010 – Merata Mita, New Zealand director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1942)
- 2011 – Pauline Betz, American tennis player (b. 1919)
- 2011 – Jonas Bevacqua, American fashion designer, co-founded the Lifted Research Group (b. 1977)
- 2011 – Derek Hodge, Virgin Islander lawyer and politician, Lieutenant Governor of the United States Virgin Islands (b. 1941)
- 2011 – Hans Keilson, German-Dutch psychoanalyst and author (b. 1909)
- 2011 – John Martin, English admiral and politician, Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey (b. 1918)
- 2011 – Andy Robustelli, American football player and manager (b. 1925)
- 2012 – Christopher Challis, English cinematographer (b. 1919)
- 2012 – Randall B. Kester, American lawyer and judge (b. 1916)
- 2012 – Paul Pietsch, German racing driver and publisher (b. 1911)
- 2012 – Orlando Woolridge, American basketball player and coach (b. 1959)
- 2013 – Gerald E. Brown, American physicist and academic (b. 1926)
- 2013 – Frederic Lindsay, Scottish author and educator (b. 1933)
- 2013 – Miguel Méndez, American author and poet (b. 1930)
- 2013 – Tim Samaras, American engineer and storm chaser (b. 1957)
- 2013 – Jairo Mora Sandoval, Costa Rican environmentalist (b. 1987)
- 2013 – Jean Stapleton, American actress (b. 1923)
- 2014 – Marilyn Beck, American journalist (b. 1928)
- 2014 – Marinho Chagas, Brazilian footballer and coach (b. 1952)
- 2014 – Hoss Ellington, American race car driver (b. 1935)
- 2014 – Martha Hyer, American actress (b. 1924)
- 2014 – Lewis Katz, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1942)
- 2014 – Mary Soames, Baroness Soames, English author (b. 1922)
- 2015 – Gladys Taylor, Canadian author and publisher (b. 1917)
- 2016 – Mohamed Abdelaziz, President of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (1976–2016) (b. 1947)
- 2016 – Jan Crouch, American televangelist, co-founder of the Trinity Broadcasting Network (b. 1938)
- 2016 – Carla Lane, English television writer (b. 1928)
- 2016 – Rupert Neudeck, German journalist and humanitarian (b. 1939)
Holidays and observances on May 31
- Anniversary of Royal Brunei Malay Regiment (Brunei)
- Christian feast day:
- Camilla Battista da Varano
- Hermias
- Petronella
- Visitation of Mary (Western Christianity)
- May 31 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- The beginning of Gawai Dayak (Dayaks in Sarawak, Malaysia and West Kalimantan, Indonesia)
- World No Tobacco Day (International)
-
May 24 in History
- 919 – The nobles of Franconia and Saxony elect Henry the Fowler at the Imperial Diet in Fritzlar as king of the East Frankish Kingdom.
- 1218 – The Fifth Crusade leaves Acre for Egypt.
- 1276 – Magnus Ladulås is crowned King of Sweden in Uppsala Cathedral.
- 1487 – The ten-year-old Lambert Simnel is crowned in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, Ireland, with the name of Edward VI in a bid to threaten King Henry VII’s reign.
- 1567 – Erik XIV of Sweden and his guards murder five incarcerated Swedish nobles.
- 1595 – Nomenclator of Leiden University Library appears, the first printed catalog of an institutional library.
- 1607 – One hundred English settlers disembark in Jamestown, the first permanent English colony in America.
- 1621 – The Protestant Union is formally dissolved.
- 1626 – Peter Minuit buys Manhattan.
- 1667 – The French Royal Army crosses the border into the Spanish Netherlands, starting the War of Devolution opposing France to the Spanish Empire and the Triple Alliance.
- 1683 – The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England, opens as the world’s first university museum.
- 1689 – The English Parliament passes the Act of Toleration protecting dissenting Protestants but excluding Roman Catholics.
- 1738 – John Wesley is converted, essentially launching the Methodist movement; the day is celebrated annually by Methodists as Aldersgate Day and a church service is generally held on the preceding Sunday.
- 1798 – The Irish Rebellion of 1798 led by the United Irishmen against British rule begins.
- 1813 – South American independence leader Simón Bolívar enters Mérida, leading the invasion of Venezuela, and is proclaimed El Libertador (“The Liberator”).
- 1822 – Battle of Pichincha: Antonio José de Sucre secures the independence of the Presidency of Quito.
- 1832 – The First Kingdom of Greece is declared in the London Conference.
- 1844 – Samuel Morse sends the message “What hath God wrought” (a biblical quotation, Numbers 23:23) from a committee room in the United States Capitol to his assistant, Alfred Vail, in Baltimore, Maryland, to inaugurate a commercial telegraph line between Baltimore and Washington D.C.
- 1856 – John Brown and his men kill five slavery supporters at Pottawatomie Creek, Kansas.
- 1861 – American Civil War: Union troops occupy Alexandria, Virginia.
- 1883 – The Brooklyn Bridge in New York City is opened to traffic after 14 years of construction.
- 1900 – Second Boer War: The United Kingdom annexes the Orange Free State.
- 1915 – World War I: Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary, joining the conflict on the side of the Allies.
- 1930 – Amy Johnson lands in Darwin, Northern Territory, becoming the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia (she left on May 5 for the 11,000 mile flight).
- 1935 – The first night game in Major League Baseball history is played in Cincinnati, Ohio, with the Cincinnati Reds beating the Philadelphia Phillies 2–1 at Crosley Field.
- 1940 – Igor Sikorsky performs the first successful single-rotor helicopter flight.
- 1940 – Acting on the orders of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, NKVD agent Iosif Grigulevich orchestrates an unsuccessful assassination attempt on exiled Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky in Coyoacán, Mexico.
- 1941 – World War II: In the Battle of the Atlantic, the German Battleship Bismarck sinks then-pride of the Royal Navy, HMS Hood, killing all but three crewmen.
- 1948 – Arab–Israeli War: Egypt captures the Israeli kibbutz of Yad Mordechai, but the five-day effort gives Israeli forces time to prepare enough to stop the Egyptian advance a week later.
- 1956 – The first Eurovision Song Contest is held in Lugano, Switzerland.
- 1958 – United Press International is formed through a merger of the United Press and the International News Service.
- 1960 – Following the 1960 Valdivia earthquake, the largest ever recorded earthquake, Cordón Caulle begins to erupt.
- 1961 – American civil rights movement: Freedom Riders are arrested in Jackson, Mississippi, for “disturbing the peace” after disembarking from their bus.
- 1962 – Project Mercury: American astronaut Scott Carpenter orbits the Earth three times in the Aurora 7 space capsule.
- 1967 – Egypt imposes a blockade and siege of the Red Sea coast of Israel.
- 1976 – The Judgment of Paris takes place in France, launching California as a worldwide force in the production of quality wine.
- 1981 – Ecuadorian president Jaime Roldós Aguilera, his wife, and his presidential committee die in an aircraft accident while travelling from Quito to Zapotillo minutes after the president gave a famous speech regarding the 24 de mayo anniversary of the Battle of Pichincha.
- 1982 – Liberation of Khorramshahr: Iranians recapture of the port city of Khorramshahr from the Iraqis during the Iran–Iraq War.
- 1988 – Section 28 of the United Kingdom’s Local Government Act 1988, a controversial amendment stating that a local authority cannot intentionally promote homosexuality, is enacted.
- 1991 – Israel conducts Operation Solomon, evacuating Ethiopian Jews to Israel.
- 1992 – The last Thai dictator, General Suchinda Kraprayoon, resigns following pro-democracy protests.
- 1992 – The ethnic cleansing in Kozarac, Bosnia and Herzegovina begins when Serbian militia and police forces enter the town.
- 1993 – Eritrea gains its independence from Ethiopia.
- 1993 – Roman Catholic Cardinal Juan Jesús Posadas Ocampo and five other people are assassinated in a shootout at Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla Guadalajara International Airport in Mexico.
- 1994 – Four men convicted of bombing the World Trade Center in New York in 1993 are each sentenced to 240 years in prison.
- 1995 – While attempting to return to Leeds Bradford Airport in the United Kingdom, Knight Air Flight 816 crashes in Harewood, North Yorkshire, killing all 12 people on board.
- 1999 – The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, Netherlands indicts Slobodan Milošević and four others for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Kosovo.
- 2000 – Israeli troops withdraw from southern Lebanon after 22 years of occupation.
- 2002 – Russia and the United States sign the Moscow Treaty.
- 2014 – A 6.4 magnitude earthquake occurs in the Aegean Sea between Greece and Turkey, injuring 324 people.
- 2014 – At least three people are killed in a shooting at Brussels’ Jewish Museum of Belgium.
- 2019 – Twenty-two students die in a fire in Surat (India).
- 2019 – Under pressure over her handling of Brexit, British Prime Minister Theresa May announces her resignation as Leader of the Conservative Party, effective as of June 7.
Births on May 24
- 15 BC – Germanicus, Roman general (d. 19)
- 1335 – Margaret of Bohemia, Queen of Hungary (d. 1349)
- 1494 – Pontormo, Italian painter (d. 1557)
- 1522 – John Jewel, English bishop (d. 1571)
- 1544 – William Gilbert, English physician, physicist, and astronomer (d. 1603)
- 1576 – Elizabeth Carey, Lady Berkeley, English courtier (d. 1635)
- 1616 – John Maitland, 1st Duke of Lauderdale, Scottish politician, Secretary of State, Scotland (d. 1682)
- 1628 – Marek Sobieski, Polish noble (d. 1652)
- 1669 – Emerentia von Düben, Swedish royal favorite (d. 1743)
- 1671 – Gian Gastone de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1737)
- 1686 – Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit, Polish-German physicist and engineer, developed the Fahrenheit scale (d. 1736)
- 1689 – Daniel Finch, 8th Earl of Winchilsea, English politician, Lord President of the Council (d. 1769)
- 1743 – Jean-Paul Marat, Swiss-French physician, journalist, and politician (d. 1793)
- 1789 – Cathinka Buchwieser, German operatic singer and actress (d.1828)
- 1794 – William Whewell, English priest and philosopher (d. 1866)
- 1803 – Alexander von Nordmann, Finnish biologist and paleontologist (d. 1866)
- 1810 – Abraham Geiger, German rabbi and scholar (d. 1874)
- 1816 – Emanuel Leutze, German-American painter (d. 1868)
- 1819 – Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom (d. 1901)
- 1830 – Alexei Savrasov, Russian painter and academic (d. 1897)
- 1855 – Arthur Wing Pinero, English actor, director, and playwright (d. 1934)
- 1861 – Gerald Strickland, 1st Baron Strickland, Maltese lawyer and politician, 4th Prime Minister of Malta (d. 1940)
- 1863 – George Grey Barnard, American sculptor (d. 1938)
- 1868 – Charlie Taylor, American engineer and mechanic (d. 1956)
- 1870 – Benjamin N. Cardozo, American lawyer and judge (d. 1938)
- 1870 – Jan Smuts, South African lawyer and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of South Africa (d. 1950)
- 1874 – Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine (d. 1878)
- 1875 – Robert Garrett, American discus thrower and shot putter (d. 1961)
- 1878 – Lillian Moller Gilbreth, American psychologist and engineer (d. 1972)
- 1879 – H. B. Reese, American candy maker, created Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (d. 1956)
- 1886 – Paul Paray, French organist, composer, and conductor (d. 1979)
- 1887 – Mick Mannock, Irish soldier and pilot, Victoria Cross recipient (d. 1918)
- 1891 – William F. Albright, American archaeologist, philologist, and scholar (d. 1971)
- 1895 – Samuel Irving Newhouse Sr., American publisher, founded Advance Publications (d. 1979)
- 1899 – Suzanne Lenglen, French tennis player (d. 1938)
- 1899 – Henri Michaux, Belgian-French poet and painter (d. 1984)
- 1900 – Eduardo De Filippo, Italian actor and screenwriter (d. 1984)
- 1901 – José Nasazzi, Uruguayan footballer and manager (d. 1968)
- 1902 – Lionel Conacher, Canadian football player and politician (d. 1954)
- 1902 – Sylvia Daoust, Canadian sculptor (d. 2004)
- 1905 – George Nakashima, American woodworker and architect(d. 1990)
- 1905 – Mikhail Sholokhov, Russian novelist and short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1984)
- 1909 – Wilbur Mills, American banker and politician (d. 1992)
- 1910 – Jimmy Demaret, American golfer (d. 1983)
- 1913 – Joe Abreu, American baseball player and soldier (d. 1993)
- 1914 – Lilli Palmer, German-American actress (d. 1986)
- 1916 – Roden Cutler, Australian lieutenant and politician, 32nd Governor of New South Wales (d. 2002)
- 1917 – Alan Campbell, Baron Campbell of Alloway, English lawyer and judge (d. 2013)
- 1918 – Coleman Young, American politician, 66th Mayor of Detroit (d. 1997)
- 1923 – Siobhán McKenna, Irish actress (d. 1986)
- 1924 – Philip Pearlstein, American soldier and painter
- 1925 – Carmine Infantino, American illustrator and educator (d. 2013)
- 1925 – Mai Zetterling, Swedish actress and director (d. 1994)
- 1926 – Stanley Baxter, Scottish actor and screenwriter
- 1928 – William Trevor, Irish novelist, playwright and short story writer (d. 2016)
- 1932 – Arnold Wesker, English playwright and producer (d. 2016)
- 1933 – Jane Byrne, American lawyer and politician, 50th Mayor of Chicago (d. 2014)
- 1933 – Réal Giguère, Canadian television host and actor
- 1933 – Aharon Lichtenstein, French-Israeli rabbi and author (d. 2015)
- 1935 – Joan Micklin Silver, American director and screenwriter
- 1936 – Harold Budd, American composer and poet
- 1937 – Maryvonne Dupureur, French runner and educator (d. 2008)
- 1937 – Archie Shepp, American saxophonist and composer
- 1938 – Prince Buster, Jamaican singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2016)
- 1938 – Tommy Chong, Canadian-American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1940 – Joseph Brodsky, Russian-American poet and essayist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1996)
- 1941 – Bob Dylan, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, artist, writer, and producer; Nobel Prize laureate
- 1941 – Patricia Hollis, Baroness Hollis of Heigham, English academic and politician
- 1942 – Ali Bacher, South African cricketer and manager
- 1942 – Hannu Mikkola, Finnish race car driver
- 1942 – Ichirō Ozawa, Japanese lawyer and politician, Japanese Minister of Home Affairs
- 1943 – Gary Burghoff, American actor
- 1944 – Patti LaBelle, American singer-songwriter and actress
- 1944 – Dominique Lavanant, French actress
- 1945 – Terry Callier, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2012)
- 1945 – Steven Norris, English engineer and politician
- 1945 – Richard Ottaway, English lieutenant and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
- 1945 – Priscilla Presley, American actress and businesswoman
- 1946 – Tansu Çiller, Turkish economist and politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Turkey
- 1946 – Jesualdo Ferreira, Portuguese footballer and manager
- 1946 – Irena Szewińska, Russian-Polish sprinter
- 1947 – Albert Bouchard, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and drummer
- 1947 – Mike De Leon, Filipino director, producer, screenwriter and cinematographer
- 1947 – Mike Reid, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and American football player
- 1947 – Waddy Wachtel, American guitarist, singer-songwriter, and record producer
- 1947 – Martin Winterkorn, German businessman
- 1948 – Richard Dembo, French director and screenwriter (d. 2004)
- 1949 – Jim Broadbent, English actor
- 1949 – Roger Deakins , English cinematographer
- 1953 – Alfred Molina, English actor
- 1955 – Rosanne Cash, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1955 – Philippe Lafontaine, Belgian singer and songwriter
- 1955 – Rajesh Roshan, Indian composer
- 1956 – R. B. Bernstein, American constitutional historian
- 1956 – Larry Blackmon, American singer-songwriter and producer
- 1956 – Dominic Grieve, English lawyer and politician, Attorney General for England and Wales
- 1956 – Michael Jackson, Irish archbishop
- 1958 – Chip Ganassi, American race car driver, team owner and businessman
- 1959 – Pelle Lindbergh, Swedish-American ice hockey player (d. 1985)
- 1959 – Barry O’Farrell, Australian politician, 43rd Premier of New South Wales
- 1960 – Guy Fletcher, English keyboard player, guitarist, and producer
- 1960 – Bill Harrigan, Australian rugby league referee and sportscaster
- 1960 – Kristin Scott Thomas, English actress
- 1961 – Lorella Cedroni, Italian philosopher and theorist (d. 2013)
- 1961 – Alain Lemieux, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach
- 1962 – Héctor Camacho, Puerto Rican-American boxer (d. 2012)
- 1962 – Gene Anthony Ray, American actor, dancer, and choreographer (d. 2003)
- 1963 – Ivan Capelli, Italian race car driver and sportscaster
- 1963 – Michael Chabon, American novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter
- 1963 – Joe Dumars, American basketball player
- 1963 – Rich Rodriguez, American football player and coach
- 1963 – Valerie Taylor, American computer scientist and educator
- 1964 – Liz McColgan, Scottish educator and runner
- 1964 – Adrian Moorhouse, English swimmer
- 1964 – Isidro Pérez, Mexican boxer (d. 2013)
- 1964 – Pat Verbeek, Canadian ice hockey player and manager
- 1965 – John C. Reilly, American actor
- 1965 – Shinichirō Watanabe, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1966 – Éric Cantona, French footballer, manager, and actor
- 1966 – Ricky Craven, American race car driver and sportscaster
- 1967 – Tamer Karadağlı, Turkish actor
- 1967 – Andrey Borodin, Russian-English economist and businessman
- 1967 – Eric Close, American actor
- 1967 – Heavy D, Jamaican-American rapper, producer, and actor (d. 2011)
- 1967 – Carlos Hernández, Venezuelan-American baseball player and manager
- 1969 – Martin McCague, Northern Irish-English cricketer
- 1969 – Jacob Rees-Mogg, English politician
- 1969 – Rich Robinson, American guitarist and songwriter
- 1971 – Kris Draper, Canadian ice hockey player and manager
- 1972 – Greg Berlanti, American director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1973 – Rodrigo, Argentinian singer-songwriter (d. 2000)
- 1973 – Bartolo Colón, Dominican-American baseball player
- 1973 – Shirish Kunder, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1973 – Vladimír Šmicer, Czech footballer and manager
- 1974 – Sébastien Foucan, French runner and actor
- 1974 – Masahide Kobayashi, Japanese baseball player and coach
- 1974 – Magnus Manske, German biochemist and computer programmer, developed MediaWiki
- 1975 – Will Sasso, Canadian actor and comedian
- 1975 – Marc Gagnon, Canadian speed skater
- 1975 – Giannis Goumas, Greek footballer and coach
- 1975 – Maria Lawson, English singer-songwriter
- 1976 – Alessandro Cortini, Italian-American singer and keyboard player
- 1976 – Catherine Cox, New Zealand-Australian netball player
- 1976 – Silje Vige, Norwegian singer
- 1977 – Jeet Gannguli, Indian score composer, music director and singer
- 1978 – Elijah Burke, American wrestler
- 1978 – Johan Holmqvist, Swedish ice hockey player
- 1978 – Brad Penny, American baseball player
- 1978 – Rose, French singer, songwriter and composer
- 1979 – Tracy McGrady, American basketball player
- 1979 – Kareem McKenzie, American football player
- 1980 – Jason Babin, American football player
- 1980 – Anthony Minichiello, Australian rugby league player
- 1981 – Andy Lee, Australian comedian, actor, and screenwriter
- 1982 – Issah Gabriel Ahmed, Ghanaian footballer
- 1982 – Rian Wallace, American football player
- 1983 – Custódio Castro, Portuguese footballer
- 1983 – Pedram Javaheri, Iranian-American meteorologist and journalist
- 1983 – Woo Seung-yeon, South Korean model and actress (d. 2009)
- 1984 – Sarah Hagan, American actress
- 1984 – Dmitri Kruglov, Estonian footballer
- 1985 – Tim Bridgman, English race car driver
- 1986 – Mark Ballas, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, dancer, and actor
- 1986 – Giannis Kontoes, Greek footballer
- 1987 – Guillaume Latendresse, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1988 – Artem Anisimov, Russian ice hockey player
- 1988 – Monica Lin Brown, American sergeant
- 1988 – Billy Gilman, American musician
- 1988 – Lucian Wintrich, American political artist and White House correspondent
- 1989 – G-Eazy, American rapper
- 1989 – Andrew Jordan, English race car driver
- 1990 – Mattias Ekholm, Swedish ice hockey player
- 1991 – Aled Davies, Welsh discus thrower
- 1991 – Cody Eakin, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1992 – Marcus Bettinelli, English footballer, goalkeeper
- 1994 – Daiya Seto, Japanese swimmer
- 1994 – Emily Nicholl, Scottish netball player
- 1994 – Daiya Seto, Japanese swimmer
- 1994 – Emily Temple Wood, American 2016 Wikipedian of the Year award
- 1999 – Tarjei Sandvik Moe, Norwegian actor
Deaths on May 24
- 688 – Ségéne, bishop of Armagh (b. c. 610)
- 1089 – Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury
- 1136 – Hugues de Payens, first Grand Master of the Knights Templar (b. c. 1070)
- 1153 – David I of Scotland (b. 1083)
- 1201 – Theobald III, Count of Champagne (b. 1179)
- 1351 – Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Othman, Moroccan sultan (b. 1297)
- 1408 – Taejo of Joseon (b. 1335)
- 1425 – Murdoch Stewart, 2nd Duke of Albany, Scottish politician (b. 1362)
- 1456 – Ambroise de Loré, French commander (b. 1396)
- 1543 – Nicolaus Copernicus, Polish mathematician and astronomer (b. 1473)
- 1612 – Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, English politician, Lord High Treasurer (b. 1563)
- 1627 – Luis de Góngora, Spanish poet and cleric (b. 1561)
- 1632 – Robert Hues, English mathematician and geographer (b. 1553)
- 1665 – Mary of Jesus of Ágreda, Spanish Franciscan abbess and mystic (b. 1602)
- 1734 – Georg Ernst Stahl, German physician and chemist (b. 1660)
- 1792 – George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney, English admiral and politician, 16th Governor of Newfoundland (b. 1718)
- 1806 – John Campbell, 5th Duke of Argyll, Scottish field marshal and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Argyllshire (b. 1723)
- 1843 – Sylvestre François Lacroix, French mathematician and academic (b. 1765)
- 1848 – Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, German author and composer (b. 1797)
- 1861 – Elmer E. Ellsworth, American colonel (b. 1837)
- 1872 – Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, German painter and illustrator (b. 1794)
- 1879 – William Lloyd Garrison, American journalist and activist (b. 1805)
- 1881 – Samuel Palmer, English painter and illustrator (b. 1805)
- 1901 – Louis-Zéphirin Moreau, Canadian bishop (b. 1824)
- 1908 – Old Tom Morris, Scottish golfer and architect (b. 1821)
- 1915 – John Condon, Irish-English soldier (b. 1896)
- 1919 – Amado Nervo, Mexican poet, journalist, and educator (b. 1870)
- 1929 – Nikolai von Meck, Russian engineer (b. 1863)
- 1941 – Lancelot Holland, English admiral (b. 1887)
- 1945 – Robert Ritter von Greim, German field marshal and pilot (b. 1892)
- 1948 – Jacques Feyder, Belgian actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1885)
- 1949 – Alexey Shchusev, Russian architect, designed Lenin’s Mausoleum and Moscow Kazanskaya railway station (b. 1873)
- 1950 – Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell, English field marshal and politician, 43rd Governor-General of India (b. 1883)
- 1951 – Thomas N. Heffron, American actor, director, screenwriter (b. 1872)
- 1956 – Martha Annie Whiteley, English chemist and mathematician (b. 1866)
- 1958 – Frank Rowe, Australian public servant (b. 1895)
- 1959 – John Foster Dulles, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 52nd United States Secretary of State (b. 1888)
- 1963 – Elmore James, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1918)
- 1965 – Sonny Boy Williamson II, American singer-songwriter and harmonica player (b. 1908)
- 1974 – Duke Ellington, American pianist and composer (b. 1899)
- 1976 – Denise Pelletier, Canadian actress (b. 1923)
- 1979 – Ernest Bullock, English organist, composer, and educator (b. 1890)
- 1981 – Herbert Müller, Swiss race car driver (b. 1940)
- 1984 – Vince McMahon Sr., American wrestling promoter and businessman, founded WWE (b. 1914)
- 1988 – Freddie Frith, English motorcycle road racer (b. 1909)
- 1990 – Arthur Villeneuve, Canadian painter (b. 1910)
- 1991 – Gene Clark, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1944)
- 1992 – Hitoshi Ogawa, Japanese race car driver (b. 1956)
- 1995 – Harold Wilson, English academic and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1916)
- 1996 – Enrique Álvarez Félix, Mexican actor (b. 1934)
- 1996 – Joseph Mitchell, American journalist and author (b. 1908)
- 1997 – Edward Mulhare, Irish actor (b. 1923)
- 2000 – Kurt Schork, American journalist and scholar (b. 1947)
- 2000 – Majrooh Sultanpuri, Indian poet and songwriter (b. 1919)
- 2002 – Wallace Markfield, American author (b. 1926)
- 2003 – Rachel Kempson, English actress (b. 1910)
- 2004 – Henry Ries, German-American photographer (b. 1917)
- 2004 – Milton Shulman, Canadian author and critic (b. 1913)
- 2004 – Edward Wagenknecht, American critic and educator (b. 1900)
- 2005 – Carl Amery, German activist and author (b. 1922)
- 2005 – Arthur Haulot, Belgian journalist and poet (b. 1913)
- 2005 – Guy Tardif, Canadian academic and politician (b. 1935)
- 2006 – Henry Bumstead, American art director and production designer (b. 1915)
- 2006 – Claude Piéplu, French actor (b. 1923)
- 2006 – Michał Życzkowski, Polish technician and educator (b. 1930)
- 2008 – Dick Martin, American actor, comedian, and director (b. 1922)
- 2008 – Jimmy McGriff, American organist and bandleader (b. 1936)
- 2009 – Jay Bennett, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1963)
- 2010 – Ray Alan, English ventriloquist, actor, and screenwriter (b. 1930)
- 2010 – Paul Gray, American bass player and songwriter (b. 1972)
- 2010 – Raymond V. Haysbert, American businessman and activist (b. 1920)
- 2010 – Petr Muk, Czech singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1965)
- 2010 – Anneliese Rothenberger, German soprano and actress (b. 1926)
- 2011 – Huguette Clark, American heiress, painter, and philanthropist (b. 1906)
- 2011 – Hakim Ali Zardari, Indian-Pakistani businessman and politician (b. 1930)
- 2012 – Klaas Carel Faber, Dutch-German SS officer (b. 1922)
- 2012 – Kathi Kamen Goldmark, American journalist and author (b. 1948)
- 2012 – Jacqueline Harpman, Belgian psychoanalyst and author (b. 1929)
- 2012 – Juan Francisco Lombardo, Argentinian footballer (b. 1925)
- 2012 – Lee Rich, American production manager and producer (b. 1918)
- 2013 – Helmut Braunlich, German-American violinist and composer (b. 1929)
- 2013 – Ron Davies, Welsh footballer (b. 1942)
- 2013 – Gotthard Graubner, German painter (b. 1930)
- 2013 – Haynes Johnson, American journalist and author (b. 1931)
- 2013 – Pyotr Todorovsky, Ukrainian-Russian director and screenwriter (b. 1925)
- 2014 – David Allen, English cricketer (b. 1935)
- 2014 – Stormé DeLarverie, known as the “Rosa Parks of the lesbian community” (b. 1920)
- 2014 – Mahafarid Amir Khosravi, Iranian businessman (b. 1969)
- 2014 – Knowlton Nash, Canadian journalist and author (b. 1927)
- 2014 – John Vasconcellos, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician (b. 1932)
- 2015 – Dean Carroll, English rugby player (b. 1962)
- 2015 – Kenneth Jacobs, Australian lawyer and judge (b. 1917)
- 2015 – Tanith Lee, English author (b. 1947)
- 2018 – Gudrun Burwitz, daughter of Margarete Himmler and Heinrich Himmler (b. 1929)
- 2018 – John Bain (TotalBiscuit), English gaming commentator and critic (b. 1984)
Holidays and observances on May 24
- Aldersgate Day/Wesley Day (Methodism)
- Battle of Pichincha Day (Ecuador)
- Bermuda Day (Bermuda), celebrated on the nearest weekday if May 24 falls on the weekend.
- Christian feast day:
- Anna Pak Agi (one of The Korean Martyrs)
- Donatian and Rogatian
- Jackson Kemper (Episcopal Church)
- Joanna
- Mary, Help of Christians
- Sarah (celebrated by the Romani people of Camargue)
- Vincent of Lérins
- May 24 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Commonwealth Day (Belize)
- Earliest day on which El Colacho tradition can fall, while June 27 is the latest; celebrated on Sunday after Corpus Christi. (Castrillo de Murcia, near Burgos)
- Independence Day (Eritrea), celebrates the independence of Eritrea from Ethiopia in 1993.
- Lubiri Memorial Day (Buganda)
- Saints Cyril and Methodius Day (Eastern Orthodox Church, Julian Calendar) and its related observance:
- Bulgarian Education and Culture and Slavonic Literature Day (Bulgaria)
- Saints Cyril and Methodius, Slavonic Enlighteners’ Day (North Macedonia)
- Victoria Day; celebrated on Monday on or before May 24. (Canada), and its related observance:
- National Patriots’ Day or Journée nationale des patriotes (Quebec)
-
May 16 in History
- 946 – Emperor Suzaku abdicates the throne in favor of his brother Murakami who becomes the 62nd emperor of Japan.
- 1204 – Having been elected on May 9, Baldwin IX, Count of Flanders is crowned as the first Emperor of the Latin Empire.
- 1426 – Gov. Thado of Mohnyin becomes king of Ava.
- 1527 – The Florentines drive out the Medici for a second time and Florence re-establishes itself as a republic.
- 1532 – Sir Thomas More resigns as Lord Chancellor of England.
- 1568 – Mary, Queen of Scots, flees to England.
- 1584 – Santiago de Vera becomes sixth Governor-General of the Spanish colony of the Philippines.
- 1739 – The Battle of Vasai concludes as the Marathas defeat the Portuguese army.
- 1770 – The 14-year-old Marie Antoinette marries 15-year-old Louis-Auguste, who later becomes king of France.
- 1771 – The Battle of Alamance, a pre-American Revolutionary War battle between local militia and a group of rebels called The “Regulators”, occurs in present-day Alamance County, North Carolina.
- 1811 – Peninsular War: The allies Spain, Portugal and United Kingdom, defeat the French at the Battle of Albuera.
- 1812 – Imperial Russia signs the Treaty of Bucharest, ending the Russo-Turkish War. The Ottoman Empire cedes Bessarabia to Russia.
- 1822 – Greek War of Independence: The Turks capture the Greek town of Souli.
- 1832 – Juan Godoy discovers the rich silver outcrops of Chañarcillo sparking the Chilean silver rush.
- 1834 – The Battle of Asseiceira is fought, the last and decisive engagement of the Liberal Wars in Portugal.
- 1842 – The first major wagon train heading for the Pacific Northwest sets out on the Oregon Trail from Elm Grove, Missouri, with 100 pioneers.
- 1866 – The United States Congress establishes the nickel.
- 1868 – The United States Senate fails to convict President Andrew Johnson by one vote.
- 1874 – A flood on the Mill River in Massachusetts destroys much of four villages and kills 139 people.
- 1877 – The 16 May 1877 crisis occurs in France, ending with the dissolution of the National Assembly 22 June and affirming the interpretation of the Constitution of 1875 as a parliamentary rather than presidential system. The elections held in October 1877 led to the defeat of the royalists as a formal political movement in France.
- 1888 – Nikola Tesla delivers a lecture describing the equipment which will allow efficient generation and use of alternating currents to transmit electric power over long distances.
- 1891 – The International Electrotechnical Exhibition opens in Frankfurt, Germany, and will feature the world’s first long-distance transmission of high-power, three-phase electric current (the most common form today).
- 1916 – The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the French Third Republic sign the secret wartime Sykes-Picot Agreement partitioning former Ottoman territories such as Iraq and Syria.
- 1918 – The Sedition Act of 1918 is passed by the U.S. Congress, making criticism of the government during wartime an imprisonable offense. It will be repealed less than two years later.
- 1919 – A naval Curtiss NC-4 aircraft commanded by Albert Cushing Read leaves Trepassey, Newfoundland, for Lisbon via the Azores on the first transatlantic flight.
- 1920 – In Rome, Pope Benedict XV canonizes Joan of Arc.
- 1929 – In Hollywood, the first Academy Awards ceremony takes place.
- 1943 – The Holocaust: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising ends.
- 1951 – The first regularly scheduled transatlantic flights begin between Idlewild Airport (now John F Kennedy International Airport) in New York City and Heathrow Airport in London, operated by El Al Israel Airlines.
- 1959 – The Triton Fountain in Valletta, Malta is turned on for the first time.
- 1960 – Theodore Maiman operates the first optical laser (a ruby laser), at Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu, California.
- 1961 – Park Chung-hee leads a coup d’état to overthrow the Second Republic of South Korea.
- 1966 – The Communist Party of China issues the “May 16 Notice”, marking the beginning of the Cultural Revolution.
- 1969 – Venera program: Venera 5, a Soviet space probe, lands on Venus.
- 1974 – Josip Broz Tito is elected president for life of Yugoslavia.
- 1988 – A report by the Surgeon General of the United States C. Everett Koop states that the addictive properties of nicotine are similar to those of heroin and cocaine.
- 1991 – Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom addresses a joint session of the United States Congress. She is the first British monarch to address the U.S. Congress.
- 1997 – Mobutu Sese Seko, the President of Zaire, flees the country.
- 2003 – In Morocco, 33 civilians are killed and more than 100 people are injured in the Casablanca terrorist attacks.
- 2005 – Kuwait permits women’s suffrage in a 35–23 National Assembly vote.
- 2011 – STS-134 (ISS assembly flight ULF6), launched from the Kennedy Space Center on the 25th and final flight for Space Shuttle Endeavour.
- 2014 – Twelve people are killed in two explosions in the Gikomba market area of Nairobi, Kenya.
Births on May 16
- 1418 – John II of Cyprus, King of Cyprus and Armenia and also titular King of Jerusalem from 1432 to 1458 (probable; d. 1458)
- 1455 – Wolfgang I of Oettingen, German count (d. 1522)
- 1542 – Anna Sibylle of Hanau-Lichtenberg, German noblewoman (d. 1580)
- 1606 – John Bulwer, British doctor (d. 1656)
- 1611 – Pope Innocent XI (d. 1689)
- 1641 – Dudley North, English economist and politician (d. 1691)
- 1710 – William Talbot, 1st Earl Talbot, English politician, Lord Steward of the Household (d. 1782)
- 1718 – Maria Gaetana Agnesi, Italian mathematician and philosopher (d. 1799)
- 1763 – Louis Nicolas Vauquelin, French pharmacist and chemist (d. 1829)
- 1788 – Friedrich Rückert, German poet and translator (d. 1866)
- 1801 – William H. Seward, American lawyer and politician, 24th United States Secretary of State (d. 1872)
- 1804 – Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, American educator who founded the first U.S. kindergarten (d. 1894)
- 1819 – Johann Voldemar Jannsen, Estonian journalist and poet (d. 1890)
- 1821 – Pafnuty Chebyshev, Russian mathematician and statistician (d. 1894)
- 1824 – Levi P. Morton, American banker and politician, 22nd United States Vice President (d. 1920)
- 1824 – Edmund Kirby Smith, American general (d. 1893)
- 1827 – Pierre Cuypers, Dutch architect, designed the Amsterdam Centraal railway station and Rijksmuseum (d. 1921)
- 1831 – David Edward Hughes, Welsh-American physicist, co-invented the microphone (d. 1900)
- 1862 – Margaret Fountaine, English lepidopterist and diarist (d.1940)
- 1876 – Fred Conrad Koch, American biochemist and endocrinologist (d. 1948)
- 1879 – Pierre Gilliard, Swiss author and academic (d. 1962)
- 1882 – Simeon Price, American golfer (d. 1945)
- 1883 – Celâl Bayar, Turkish politician, 3rd President of Turkey (d. 1986)
- 1888 – Royal Rife, American microbiologist and instrument maker (d. 1971)
- 1890 – Edith Grace White, American ichthyologist (d. 1975)
- 1892 – Osgood Perkins, American actor (d. 1937)
- 1894 – Walter Yust, American journalist and writer (d. 1960)
- 1897 – Zvi Sliternik, Israeli entomologist and academic (d. 1994)
- 1898 – Tamara de Lempicka, Polish-American painter (d. 1980)
- 1898 – Desanka Maksimović, Serbian poet and academic (d. 1993)
- 1898 – Kenji Mizoguchi, Japanese director and screenwriter (d. 1956)
- 1903 – Charles F. Brannock, American inventor and manufacturer (d. 1992)
- 1905 – Henry Fonda, American actor (d. 1982)
- 1906 – Ernie McCormick, Australian cricketer (d. 1991)
- 1906 – Alfred Pellan, Canadian painter and educator (d. 1988)
- 1906 – Arturo Uslar Pietri, Venezuelan lawyer, journalist, and author (d. 2001)
- 1906 – Margret Rey, German author and illustrator (d. 1996)
- 1907 – Bob Tisdall, Irish hurdler (d. 2004)
- 1909 – Margaret Sullavan, American actress and singer (d. 1960)
- 1909 – Luigi Villoresi, Italian race car driver (d. 1997)
- 1910 – Olga Bergholz, Russian poet and author (d. 1975)
- 1910 – Higashifushimi Kunihide, Japanese monk and educator (d. 2014)
- 1910 – Aleksandr Ivanovich Laktionov, Russian painter and educator (d. 1972)
- 1912 – Studs Terkel, American historian and author (d. 2008)
- 1913 – Gordon Chalk, Australian politician, 30th Premier of Queensland (d. 1991)
- 1913 – Woody Herman, American singer, saxophonist, and clarinet player (d. 1987)
- 1914 – Edward T. Hall, American anthropologist and author (d. 2009)
- 1915 – Mario Monicelli, Italian director and screenwriter (d. 2010)
- 1916 – Ephraim Katzir, Israeli biophysicist and politician, 4th President of Israel (d. 2009)
- 1917 – Ben Kuroki, American sergeant and pilot (d. 2015)
- 1917 – James C. Murray, American lawyer and politician (d. 1999)
- 1917 – Juan Rulfo, Mexican author and photographer (d. 1986)
- 1918 – Wilf Mannion, English footballer and manager (d. 2000)
- 1919 – Liberace, American pianist and entertainer (d. 1987)
- 1919 – Ramon Margalef, Spanish ecologist and biologist (d. 2004)
- 1920 – Martine Carol, French actress (d. 1967)
- 1921 – Harry Carey, Jr., American actor, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2012)
- 1923 – Victoria Fromkin, American linguist and academic (d. 2000)
- 1923 – Merton Miller, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2000)
- 1923 – Peter Underwood, English parapsychologist and author (d. 2014)
- 1924 – Dawda Jawara, 1st President of the Gambia (d. 2019)
- 1925 – Nancy Roman, American astronomer (d. 2018)
- 1925 – Ola Vincent, Nigerian banker and economist (d. 2012)
- 1925 – Nílton Santos, Brazilian footballer (d. 2013)
- 1928 – Billy Martin, American baseball player and coach (d. 1989)
- 1929 – Betty Carter, American singer-songwriter (d. 1998)
- 1929 – John Conyers, American lawyer and politician (d. 2019)
- 1929 – Claude Morin, Canadian academic and politician
- 1929 – Adrienne Rich, American poet, essayist, and feminist (d. 2012)
- 1930 – Friedrich Gulda, Austrian pianist and composer (d. 2000)
- 1931 – Vujadin Boškov, Serbian footballer, coach, and manager (d. 2014)
- 1931 – Hana Brady, Jewish-Czech Holocaust victim (d.1944)
- 1931 – K. Natwar Singh, Indian scholar and politician, Indian Minister of External Affairs
- 1931 – Lowell P. Weicker, Jr., American soldier and politician, 85th Governor of Connecticut
- 1934 – Kenneth O. Morgan, Welsh historian and author
- 1934 – Antony Walker, English general
- 1935 – Floyd Smith, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1936 – Karl Lehmann, German cardinal (d. 2018)
- 1937 – Yvonne Craig, American ballet dancer and actress (d. 2015)
- 1938 – Stuart Bell, English lawyer and politician (d. 2012)
- 1938 – Ivan Sutherland, American computer scientist and academic
- 1938 – Marco Aurelio Denegri, Peruvian television host and sexologist (d. 2018)
- 1941 – Denis Hart, Australian archbishop
- 1942 – David Penry-Davey, English lawyer and judge (d. 2015)
- 1943 – Kay Andrews, Baroness Andrews, English politician
- 1943 – Dan Coats, American politician and diplomat, 29th United States Ambassador to Germany
- 1943 – Wieteke van Dort, Dutch actress, comedian, singer, writer and artist
- 1944 – Billy Cobham, Panamanian-American drummer, composer, and bandleader
- 1944 – Antal Nagy, Hungarian footballer
- 1944 – Danny Trejo, American actor
- 1946 – John Law, English sociologist and academic
- 1946 – Robert Fripp, English guitarist, songwriter and producer
- 1947 – Cheryl Clarke, American writer
- 1947 – Darrell Sweet, Scottish drummer (d. 1999)
- 1947 – Roch Thériault, Canadian religious leader (d. 2011)
- 1948 – Jesper Christensen, Danish actor, director, and producer
- 1948 – Judy Finnigan, English talk show host and author
- 1948 – Enrico Fumia, Italian automobile and product designer
- 1948 – Emma Georgina Rothschild, English historian and academic
- 1948 – Staf Van Roosbroeck, Belgian cyclist
- 1949 – Rick Reuschel, American baseball player
- 1950 – Georg Bednorz, German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1950 – Ray Condo, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2004)
- 1950 – Bruce Coville, American author
- 1951 – Christian Lacroix, French fashion designer
- 1951 – Jonathan Richman, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1951 – Janet Soskice, Canadian philosopher and theologian
- 1952 – James Herndon, American psychologist and academic
- 1953 – Pierce Brosnan, Irish-American actor and producer
- 1953 – Peter Onorati, American actor
- 1953 – Richard Page, American singer-songwriter and bass player
- 1953 – Kitanoumi Toshimitsu, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 55th Yokozuna (d. 2015)
- 1953 – David Maclean, Scottish politician
- 1953 – Stephen Woolman, Lord Woolman, Scottish judge and academic
- 1954 – Dafydd Williams, Canadian physician and astronaut
- 1955 – Olga Korbut, Soviet gymnast
- 1955 – Jack Morris, American baseball player and sportscaster
- 1955 – Hazel O’Connor, English-born Irish singer-songwriter and actress
- 1955 – Páidí Ó Sé, Irish footballer and manager (d. 2012)
- 1955 – Debra Winger, American actress
- 1956 – Loretta Schrijver, Dutch television host, news anchor
- 1957 – Joan Benoit, American runner
- 1957 – Benjamin Mancroft, 3rd Baron Mancroft, English politician
- 1957 – Yuri Shevchuk, Russian singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1957 – Anthony St John, 22nd Baron St John of Bletso, English lawyer and businessman
- 1957 – Bob Suter, American ice hockey player and coach (d. 2014)
- 1959 – Mitch Webster, American baseball player
- 1959 – Mare Winningham, American actress and singer-songwriter
- 1960 – Landon Deireragea, Nauruan politician, Nauruan Speaker of Parliament
- 1960 – S. Shanmuganathan, Sri Lankan commander and politician (d. 1998)
- 1961 – Kevin McDonald, Canadian actor and screenwriter
- 1961 – Charles Wright, American wrestler
- 1962 – Jimmy Hood, Scottish engineer and politician (d. 2017)
- 1962 – Helga Radtke, German long jumper
- 1963 – Rachel Griffith, Anglo-American economist
- 1963 – David Wilkinson, English theologian and academic
- 1964 – John Salley, American basketball player and actor
- 1964 – Boyd Tinsley, American singer-songwriter and violinist
- 1964 – Milton Jones, English comedian, actor, and screenwriter
- 1965 – Krist Novoselic, American bass player, songwriter, author, and activist
- 1965 – Tanel Tammet, Estonian computer scientist, engineer, and academic
- 1966 – Janet Jackson, American singer-songwriter, producer, dancer, and actress
- 1966 – Scott Reeves, American singer-songwriter and actor
- 1966 – Thurman Thomas, American football player
- 1967 – Doug Brocail, American baseball player and coach
- 1967 – Susan Williams, Baroness Williams of Trafford, British politician
- 1968 – Ralph Tresvant, American singer and producer
- 1969 – David Boreanaz, American actor
- 1969 – Tucker Carlson, American journalist, co-founded The Daily Caller
- 1969 – Steve Lewis, American sprinter
- 1970 – Gabriela Sabatini, Argentinian tennis player
- 1970 – Danielle Spencer, Australian singer-songwriter and actress
- 1971 – Phil Clarke, English rugby league player and sportscaster
- 1971 – Rachel Goswell, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1972 – Christian Califano, French rugby player
- 1972 – Matthew Hart, New Zealand cricketer
- 1973 – Tori Spelling, American actress, reality television personality, and author
- 1974 – Laura Pausini, Italian singer-songwriter and producer
- 1974 – Sonny Sandoval, American singer-songwriter and rapper
- 1975 – Tony Kakko, Finnish musician, composer, and vocalist
- 1975 – Simon Whitfield, Canadian triathlete
- 1976 – Dirk Nannes, Australian-Dutch cricketer
- 1977 – Melanie Lynskey, New Zealand actress
- 1977 – Emilíana Torrini, Icelandic singer-songwriter
- 1978 – Scott Nicholls, English motorcycle racer
- 1978 – Lionel Scaloni, Argentinian footballer
- 1980 – Nuria Llagostera Vives, Spanish tennis player
- 1981 – Ricardo Costa, Portuguese footballer
- 1982 – Łukasz Kubot, Polish tennis player
- 1983 – Daniel Kerr, Australian footballer
- 1983 – Kyle Wellwood, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1984 – Darío Cvitanich, Argentinian footballer
- 1984 – Tomáš Fleischmann, Czech ice hockey player
- 1984 – Jensen Lewis, American baseball player
- 1984 – Rick Rypien, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2011)
- 1985 – Anja Mittag, German footballer
- 1985 – Rodrigo Peters Marques, Brazilian footballer
- 1985 – Corey Perry, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1986 – Megan Fox, American actress
- 1986 – Andy Keogh, Irish footballer
- 1986 – Shamcey Supsup, Filipino model and architect
- 1987 – Tom Onslow-Cole, English race car driver
- 1988 – Jesús Castillo, Mexican footballer
- 1988 – Martynas Gecevičius, Lithuanian basketball player
- 1988 – Jaak Põldma, Estonian tennis player
- 1989 – Behati Prinsloo, Namibian model
- 1990 – Amanda Carreras, Gibraltarian tennis player
- 1990 – Thomas Brodie-Sangster, English actor
- 1990 – Darko Šarović, Serbian sprinter
- 1990 – Omar Strong, American basketball player
- 1991 – Grigor Dimitrov, Bulgarian tennis player
- 1991 – Joey Graceffa, American internet celebrity
- 1991 – Ashley Wagner, American figure skater
- 1992 – Jeff Skinner, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1992 – Kirstin Maldonado, American singer and songwriter
- 1993 – Johannes Thingnes Bø, Norwegian biathlete
- 1993 – Karol Mets, Estonian footballer
- 1993 – IU, Korean singer-songwriter and actress
- 1995 – Elizabeth Ralston, Australian footballer
- 1996 – Louisa Chirico, an American tennis player
Deaths on May 16
- 290 – Emperor Wu of Jin, Chinese emperor (b. 236)
- 895 – Qian Kuan, Chinese nobleman
- 934 – Meng Hanqiong, eunuch official of Later Tang
- 995 – Fujiwara no Michitaka, Japanese nobleman (b. 953)
- 1182 – John Komnenos Vatatzes, Byzantine general (b. 1132)
- 1265 – Simon Stock, English-French saint (b. 1165)
- 1375 – Liu Bowen, Chinese military strategist, officer, statesman and poet (b. 1311)
- 1412 – Gian Maria Visconti, Duke of Milan (b. 1388)
- 1561 – Jan Tarnowski, Polish noble and statesman (b. 1488)
- 1620 – William Adams, English sailor and navigator (b. 1564)
- 1657 – Andrew Bobola, Polish missionary and martyr (b. 1591)
- 1667 – Thomas Wriothesley, 4th Earl of Southampton, English politician, Lord High Treasurer (b. 1607)
- 1669 – Pietro da Cortona, Italian painter and architect, designed the Santi Luca e Martina (b. 1596)
- 1691 – Jacob Leisler, German-American politician, 8th Colonial Governor of New York (b. 1640)
- 1696 – Mariana of Austria, Queen consort of Spain (b. 1634)
- 1703 – Charles Perrault, French author and academic (b. 1628)
- 1778 – Robert Darcy, 4th Earl of Holderness, English politician, Secretary of State for the Southern Department (b. 1718)
- 1790 – Philip Yorke, 2nd Earl of Hardwicke, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire (b. 1720)
- 1818 – Matthew Lewis, English author and playwright (b. 1775)
- 1823 – Grace Elliott, Scottish courtesan and spy (b. c.1754)
- 1830 – Joseph Fourier, French mathematician and physicist (b. 1768)
- 1862 – Edward Gibbon Wakefield, English politician (b. 1796)
- 1882 – Reuben Chapman, American lawyer and politician, 13th Governor of Alabama (b. 1799)
- 1890 – Mihkel Veske, Estonian poet, linguist and theologist (b. 1843)
- 1891 – Ion C. Brătianu, Romanian politician, 14th Prime Minister of Romania (b. 1821)
- 1910 – Henri-Edmond Cross, French Neo-Impressionist painter (b. 1856)
- 1913 – Louis Perrier, Swiss architect and politician (b. 1849)
- 1920 – Levi P. Morton, American politician, 22nd United States Vice President (b. 1824)
- 1926 – Mehmed VI, Ottoman sultan (b. 1861)
- 1936 – Leonidas Paraskevopoulos, Greek general and politician (b. 1860)
- 1938 – Joseph Strauss, American engineer, co designed The Golden Gate Bridge (b. 1870)
- 1943 – Alfred Hoche, German psychiatrist and academic (b. 1865)
- 1944 – George Ade, American journalist, author, and playwright (b. 1866)
- 1946 – Bruno Tesch, German chemist and businessman (b. 1890)
- 1947 – Frederick Gowland Hopkins, English biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1861)
- 1947 – Zhang Lingfu, Chinese general (b. 1903)
- 1953 – Django Reinhardt, Belgian guitarist and composer (b. 1910)
- 1954 – Clemens Krauss, Austrian conductor and manager (b. 1893)
- 1955 – James Agee, American novelist, screenwriter, and critic(b. 1909)
- 1955 – Manny Ayulo, American race car driver (b. 1921)
- 1956 – H. B. Reese, American candy-maker and businessman, created Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (b. 1876)
- 1957 – Eliot Ness, American federal agent (b. 1903)
- 1961 – George A. Malcolm, American lawyer and jurist (b. 1881)
- 1973 – Jacques Lipchitz, Lithuanian-American sculptor (b. 1891)
- 1977 – Modibo Keïta, Malian politician, 1st President of Mali (b. 1915)
- 1979 – A. Philip Randolph, American union leader and activist (b. 1889)
- 1981 – Ernie Freeman, American pianist, composer, and bandleader (b. 1922)
- 1981 – Willy Hartner, German physician and academic (b. 1905)
- 1984 – Andy Kaufman, American actor, comedian, and screenwriter (b. 1949)
- 1984 – Irwin Shaw, American playwright, screenwriter, novelist, and short story writer (b. 1913)
- 1985 – Margaret Hamilton, American actress (b. 1902)
- 1989 – Leila Kasra, Iranian poet and songwriter (b. 1939)
- 1990 – Sammy Davis Jr., American singer, dancer, and actor (b. 1925)
- 1990 – Jim Henson, American puppeteer, director, producer, and screenwriter, created The Muppets (b. 1936)
- 1993 – Marv Johnson, American singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1938)
- 1994 – Alain Cuny, French actor (b. 1908)
- 1996 – Jeremy Michael Boorda, American admiral (b. 1939)
- 1997 – Elbridge Durbrow, American diplomat (b. 1903)
- 2002 – Alec Campbell, Australian soldier (b. 1899)
- 2003 – Mark McCormack, American lawyer and sports agent, founded IMG (b. 1930)
- 2005 – Andrew Goodpaster, American general (b. 1915)
- 2008 – Robert Mondavi, American winemaker, co-founded the Opus One Winery (b. 1913)
- 2010 – Ronnie James Dio, American singer-songwriter and producer (b. 1942)
- 2010 – Hank Jones, American pianist, composer, and bandleader (b. 1918)
- 2011 – Ralph Barker, English author (b. 1917)
- 2011 – Bob Davis, Australian footballer and coach (b. 1928)
- 2011 – Edward Hardwicke, English actor (b. 1932)
- 2011 – Kiyoshi Kodama, Japanese actor (b. 1934)
- 2012 – Patricia Aakhus, American author and academic (b. 1952)
- 2012 – James Abdnor, American soldier and politician, 30th Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota (b. 1923)
- 2012 – Chuck Brown, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1936)
- 2012 – Ernie Chan, Filipino-American illustrator (b. 1940)
- 2012 – Kevin Hickey, American baseball player (b. 1956)
- 2013 – Angelo Errichetti, American politician (b. 1928)
- 2013 – Bryan Illerbrun, Canadian football player (b. 1957)
- 2013 – Frankie Librán, Puerto Rican-American baseball player (b. 1948)
- 2013 – Heinrich Rohrer, Swiss physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1933)
- 2013 – Dick Trickle, American race car driver (b. 1941)
- 2013 – Bernard Waber, American author and illustrator (b. 1921)
- 2014 – Chris Duckworth, Zimbabwean-South African cricketer (b. 1933)
- 2014 – Vito Favero, Italian cyclist (b. 1932)
- 2014 – Bud Hollowell, American baseball player and manager (b. 1943)
- 2014 – Clyde Snow, American anthropologist and author (b. 1928)
- 2015 – Prashant Bhargava, American director and producer (b. 1973)
- 2015 – Moshe Levinger, Israeli rabbi and author (b. 1935)
- 2015 – Flora MacNeil, Scottish Gaelic singer (b. 1928)
- 2019 – Piet Blauw, Dutch politician (b. 1937)
- 2019 – Bob Hawke, Australian politician, 23rd Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1929)
- 2019 – I. M. Pei, Chinese-American architect (b. 1917)
Holidays and observances on May 16
- Christian feast day:
- Aaron (Coptic Church)
- Abda and Abdjesus, and companions:
- Andrew Bobola
- Brendan the Navigator (Roman Catholic Church, Anglican Communion, Eastern Orthodox Church)
- Caroline Chisholm (Church of England)
- Gemma Galgani (Passionists Calendar)
- Germerius
- Honoratus of Amiens
- John of Nepomuk
- Margaret of Cortona
- Peregrine of Auxerre
- Simon Stock
- Ubald (see Saint Ubaldo Day)
- Martyrs of Sudan (Episcopal Church (USA))
- Mass Graves Day (Iraq)
- National Day, declared by Salva Kiir Mayardit (South Sudan)
- Teachers’ Day (Malaysia)